Al Franken’s campaign is rolling out a new commercial on broadcast and cable TV in key metro areas tomorrow. Under a soundbed of airy acoustic guitar, Franken begins on an optimistic note: "We’re building 810 schools, 4800 water and sewage projects and 1047 roads and bridges." But there’s a kicker: We’re building them not in the land of I-35W and Winona’s Highway 43 bridge, but in Iraq.

The message could come off as harsh — running the risk of seeming anti-troop or, for that matter, anti-Iraqi (who, bombed to kingdom come by coalition troops, might rightfully expect a little rebuilding) — but the Franken campaign frames it as a reorganizing of priorities, and makes sure to throw in troop-friendly gestures: Over an image of him on one of his seven USO tours, he calls for a "responsible plan for withdrawal" to "bring our brave troops home" and calls for us to "reinvest in America again."

But the ads, which will run in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester and Mankato, might not satisfy supporters of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who could read into it a less-than-immediate pullout of troops in Iraq.