Obama on the Airwaves

Former senator Fred D. Thompson will be visiting New Hampshire and South Carolina as the first stops in his as-of-yet unannounced bid for the GOP presidential nomination. (By Brendan Smialowski -- Getty Images)

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will begin airing the first television advertising for his presidential campaign today with two ads aimed at introducing himself to Iowa voters.

Both ads -- a 30-second spot and a 60-second spot -- are biographical. Each begins in black and white with the words "The Obama Story" on the screen before transitioning to color and showing snippets of his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a speech that made him a force in national politics almost overnight.

The shorter ad aims to bolster Obama's bipartisan message by featuring a Republican state senator named Kirk Dillard (Ill.) praising the Democrat's "negotiation skills" and "ability to understand both sides."

The longer ad is more strictly biographical, detailing Obama's work as a community organizer, his standout years at Harvard Law School and his eventual return to community organizing. Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor, says in the ad that Obama's decision to bypass wealth on Wall Street for a job organizing at the community level was "absolutely inspiring."

The Obama campaign released little information about the extent of the ad buy other than to say it is statewide and "low level." Given Obama's outstanding fundraising in the first quarter and the widespread belief that he will equal or eclipse that showing when the next fundraising period ends on June 30, he is likely to have the financial resources to stay on the air in Iowa all the way through the Jan. 14 caucuses.

Obama is already a major player in the caucuses if recent polls are to be believed. A Mason-Dixon survey taken in the middle of this month had Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) at 22 percent, followed by former senator John Edwards (N.C.) at 21 percent and Obama at 18 percent.

-- Chris Cillizza

Thompson Plans First N.H, S.C. Visits

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Actor and former senator Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.) will make his debut appearances this week in South Carolina and New Hampshire, offering the latest evidence -- if one needed any more -- that he will jump into the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Tomorrow, Thompson will headline a luncheon fundraiser for the South Carolina Republican Party. The next day, he will head to New Hampshire, where he will be the featured speaker at a dinner gala for the state GOP.

But he's not forgetting his roots. Today he's in Nashville, where he's holding his first official fundraiser. He's not required to report his money-gathering activities until Oct. 15, but sources suggest he'll raise about $5 million in June.