Clinton to air first TV ads in New Hampshire

Continuing her fall campaign push, Hillary Clinton will air her first TV ad in New Hampshire starting Thursday, her campaign said today.

The 30-second spot uses footage from Sunday rallies in Concord and Portsmouth to reinforce Clinton's argument that she has the experience and record to bring the change that Democratic voters want on health care, the war in Iraq, and other issues.

"If we have the will, she has the strength," the narrator says at the end of the ad, titled "Change." "If we have the conviction, she has the experience. If we're ready for change, she's ready to lead."

"I know that when she's president she'll bring the change that we need," Terie Norelli, co-chairwoman of Clinton's campaign in New Hampshire, told reporters in a conference call. "She is the candidate who will be able to hit the ground running on the first day."

Norelli, the first Democratic speaker of the New Hampshire House, would not say how long the ad will run, but said it was "a significant buy."

She said the campaign decided to start TV ads now to capitalize on the momentum from the weekend fall kick-off rallies, which drew thousands.

"The ad continues the campaign's commitment to the first-in-the-nation primary," Norelli said. "We're not taking anything for granted."

Clinton, the New York senator and former First Lady, is leading the Democratic nomination polls nationally and in New Hampshire, but Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards are chasing her aggressively.

While they are trying to cast her as a creature of Washington, tied to special interests, she is portraying herself as the candidate with the experience and moxie to bring change.