Senator Obama’s first television ad of the general election campaign is an attempt to quell the fears of some voters that Mr. Obama is unpatriotic. “America is a country of strong families and strong values. My life’s been blessed by both,” Mr. Obama says in the ad as faded snapshots from his youth flash on the screen. “I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn’t have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country … . I’ll never forget those values, and if I have the honor of taking the oath of office as president, it will be with a deep and abiding faith in the country I love.”

The ad is set to air in many of the traditional swing states, as well as some less traditional ones, like Alaska and Montana, the campaign said.

NETROOTS RAGE AS OBAMA BACKS PRO-WAR DEMOCRAT

Senator Obama has entered a Democratic primary fight for a House seat in Georgia, backing a supporter of the Iraq war, Rep. John Barrow, over a liberal, anti-war challenger, Regina Thomas. “We’re going to need John Barrow back in Congress to help change Washington,” Mr. Obama declares in a radio ad he recorded for the Barrow campaign. “John is not afraid to take a tough stand and to do what’s right.”

Mr. Obama’s endorsement triggered an uproar from liberal Web loggers yesterday. “I don’t know what kind of game Obama is playing, but using his remarkable brand to protect conservative Democrats is a move reminiscent of Nancy Pelosi endorsing Al Wynn,” a prominent online activist, Matthew Stoller, wrote. He posted a 2006 ad in which Mr. Barrow denounced “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, boasted of fighting against the estate tax, and said about Iraq, “We can’t cut and run.”

MCCAIN GAS TAX HOLIDAY ‘VERY DOUBTFUL’

Senator McCain is acknowledging that there is little chance that the gas tax holiday he has endorsed will come to pass. “I think it’s very doubtful because there are so many, frankly, out of touch members of Congress,” he told the Detroit Free Press in an interview published yesterday. Still, he stood behind the idea of lifting the 18.5-cent tax for the summer, which he said would help poor and working-class Americans. “All I wanted to do was give them a little break,” Mr. McCain said.

Senator Obama has derided the idea as a gimmick, while many economists have said dropping the tax would probably not lead to a significant drop in the price of fuel.

AFSCME, SIERRA CLUB ENDORSE OBAMA

A 1.5 million-member union that worked aggressively for Senator Clinton in the Democratic primary, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, is now promising to support Mr. Obama, notwithstanding the sharp attacks the union mounted on him just weeks ago. “Barack Obama has mobilized a historic movement to reclaim the greatness of America,” AFSCME’s president, Gerald McEntee, said yesterday, according to the Washington Post. “With his leadership, our nation will rise up to rebuild the middle class at home and restore America’s reputation in the world.”

Less than a month ago, Mr. McEntee fretted publicly that Mr. Obama “will literally walk almost lame” into the Democratic convention in August. “I think he has a problem with the blue-collar worker and relating to that worker,” the labor leader told the Post on May 21.

In addition to endorsing Mr. Obama, Mr. McEntee said his union would not protest the senator’s selection of a new economic aide, Jason Furman, who is viewed with suspicion by some union leaders. “We’re okay and willing to give this guy a chance,” the AFSCME chief said, according to the Post.

Meanwhile, a major environmental group, the Sierra Club said it will formally endorse Mr. Obama on Friday, spurred in part by Senator McCain’s recent calls for more offshore drilling and nuclear plants. “The contrast, which was already pretty sharp, just got razor sharp this week,” the club’s executive director, Carl Pope, told the Associated Press.

PATERSON TO JOIN OBAMA IN CHICAGO

Governor Paterson, who supported Senator Clinton in the primary, is scheduled to appear with Senator Obama at an economic event in Chicago on Friday. Mr. Paterson is expected to be among a group of Democratic governors who will join the presumptive Democratic nominee at a Chicago museum for a discussion of the nation’s economic condition.