Ads Classified: Obama's New Bio Ad in Iowa

    Barack Obama is up with a new glossy 60-second biographical ad in Iowa, available here -- and it's a good one. It plays on the candidate's strengths as a healer and uniter -- and draws the unspoken comparisons with Hillary on the war and on ties to lobbyists.
    To the extent the ad has a weakness, it ties into Obama's weakness: This is an ad with a much stronger appeal to independent voters who aren't fiercely partisan. That's why one should expect this ad soon to appear in New Hampshire, where independents vote more heavily than in Iowa and will determine who wins the primary in January.