Wednesday, Feb 21, 2007
"Mitt Romney, who entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination last week, will run television advertisements in five states starting Wednesday, the latest sign of how quickly the 2008 campaign is moving.
"The advertisements, 10 months before the first nominating contests next year, are an early move to inform Republican primary voters about his views and record at a time when he has come under some criticism by opponents for shifting his views on several issues.
"The television advertising campaign will begin in Iowa and New Hampshire on Wednesday and then expand to South Carolina, Florida and Michigan, all states with early 2008 contests, his aides said. The advertisements will run for about two weeks.
"Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, becomes the first of the major presidential contenders of either party to buy television time."
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"The advertisements include film from Mr. Romney's announcement last Tuesday in Dearborn, Mich., along with shots of him speaking at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that afternoon. As is typical with early introductory advertisements, they focus heavily on presenting information about someone who is little known outside his state, focusing in particular on his tenure as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City."
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"'What the announcement did is stimulate a great deal of demand and interest about Mitt Romney from voters,' said Kevin Madden, his spokesman. 'What this does is introduce Mitt Romney to voters and gives more information about who he is. We don't enjoy the universal name identification that other candidates enjoy at this point.'"