Kerry ads feature family, war vets

WASHINGTON — Democrat John Kerry on Monday launched a long-awaited, $25 million advertising campaign with television spots that trace his life from Yale to Vietnam to the U.S. Senate, and feature his daughter, wife and a prominent Republican.

The Democrat's new wave of ads is the single largest purchase of airtime yet this year by either presidential campaign.

Amid concerns among some Democrats that many voters only know Kerry from President Bush's critical ads, the challenger plans to air two 60-second spots beginning Tuesday in local media markets in 19 states, including GOP-leaning Colorado — Kerry's birthplace — and Louisiana. The ads also will be shown nationally on cable news networks.

The commercials, focusing on Kerry's "lifetime of service and strength," are designed to flesh out his biography and priorities for voters while trying to counter the Bush campaign's portrayal of the Democrat as a flip-flopper who is weak on national security.

"If you look at my father's time in service to this country, whether it's as a veteran, prosecutor or senator, he has shown an ability to fight for things that matter," Kerry's daughter, Vanessa, says in one ad.

His wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, adds: "John is the face of someone who's hopeful, who's generous of spirit and of heart."

Both ads spotlight Kerry's fellow servicemen from Vietnam, with crewmate Del Sandusky saying, "The decisions that he made saved our lives." Jim Rassman, who was a U.S. Army Special Forces Lieutenant rescued by Kerry 35 years ago in Vietnam, says, "When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine." Kerry's effort earned him the Bronze Star.

The ads focus on Kerry's decorated military service, briefly mention his role in anti-war protests and then highlight his work years later with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona "to find the truth about POWs and MIAs in Vietnam."

McCain, who challenged Bush for the GOP nomination in 2000, is a friend of Kerry's and has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential choice, a notion the Republican has tried to quash.

The two ads also mention Yale, the Ivy League school that both Bush and Kerry attended. Kerry says in one ad: "I thought it was important if you had a lot of privileges as I had had, to go to a great university like Yale, to give something back to your country."