Castor stresses 'family values' in TV ad

[Freddie Stubbs]

.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor introduces herself to Florida voters as a teacher, wife and mother in the first TV commercial of her campaign.

BY BETH REINHARD

[e-mail]


The first commercial by U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor, arriving weeks after her Democratic opponents' ads went on the air, emphasizes the one trait they can never claim: femininity.

''Long before I became a legislator or a university president, I was a teacher, I was a wife, I was a mother,'' Castor says in the spot, which begins to air today. ``So family values come naturally to me. And those are the kind of values I'll take to the United States Senate.''

Featuring smiling images of Castor reading to schoolchildren and surrounded by fam ily members, the ad seems aimed at distinguishing her from rivals Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, congressman Peter Deutsch and Hollywood businessman Bernard Klein.

The commercial also appears intended to insulate Castor from the ''family values'' attack that Republicans typically level at liberal Democrats.

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