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Kerry goes for the prime-time hard sell

Democrat John Kerry has launched a long-awaited, US$25 million advertising campaign with television spots that trace his life from Yale University to Vietnam to the US Senate.

They also feature his daughter, wife and a prominent Republican, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Amid concerns among some Democrats that many voters only know Kerry from President George W. Bush's critical advertisements, the Kerry campaign planned to air two 60-second spots beginning yesterday on TV stations across 19 states, including Republican-leaning Colorado -- Kerry's birthplace -- and Louisiana.

They will also be shown 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 advertisement.

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

Both spotlight Kerry's fellow servicemen in Vietnam, with Del Sandusky saying, "The decisions that he made saved our lives."

Jim Rassman, who was a US 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 advertisements focus on Kerry's decorated military service, briefly mention his role in anti-war protests and then highlight his work years later with McCain on Vietnam-era prisoners of war or soldiers missing in action.

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

The two advertisements also mention Yale, the Ivy League school that both Bush and Kerry attended. Kerry says in one advertisement: "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."
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