Ad watch

Sponsor: Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, Democrat for president. This 30-second television commercial began airing Wednesday in Albuquerque and may expand to other markets.

Script: Narrator: “He’s a husband and father. A pilot, a hunter, a hockey player. Tough prosecutor, advocate for kids. Nineteen years, Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Author of a strategy to win the war on terror. A combat veteran who has been praised by former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Presidents Reagan and Clinton. Stronger at home. Respected in the world. John Kerry for president.”

Kerry: “I’m John Kerry, and I approved this message.”

Images: As the ad opens, Kerry sits with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and laughs. Home movie footage is shown of him as a young father playing ball with his daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra. Then come pictures of Kerry shooting a rifle, piloting an aircraft and skating with a hockey stick. He is shown as a young Massachusetts prosecutor and as a bespectacled senator talking on the phone. The book Kerry wrote on fighting terrorism, “The New War,” is shown. Kerry is shown as a young naval officer, receiving the Silver Star for valor in Vietnam. Pictures appear of retired Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. and retired Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, two former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Kerry is shown waving to an audience.

Analysis: This ad seeks to rebut questions about Kerry’s leadership abilities that were raised in a recent commercial sponsored by a pro-Republican group and shown in New Mexico. It is the first Kerry commercial to invoke the name of President Reagan, who died June 5. The mention is aimed at giving Kerry’s national security credentials a bipartisan stamp. Reagan appointed Crowe to the top U.S. military post in 1985, while Shalikashvili served in the job under President Clinton. Crowe and Shalikashvili are advising Kerry on defense and national security issues. It is also the first ad to spotlight Kerry’s 1997 book. The Bush campaign derides Kerry’s assertion that “The New War” offers an anti-terrorism blueprint, noting that it makes no reference to Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, and that it praises Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat as a “statesman” and “role model.”

Compiled by Times staff writer Nick Anderson