By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney returned to this early primary state Thursday on the heels of a new campaign ad in which he says he wants to scrub porn from children's computers, reduce televised sex and violence and keep drugs off the streets.
The former Massachusetts governor's campaign has already faced questions about whether the ad is a shot at Republican Rudy Giuliani and on Thursday took some swipes at other GOP rivals. Romney this week also criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama after the Illinois senator said age-appropriate sex education could be taught in kindergarten.
"Sen. Obama is wrong if he thinks science-based sex education has any place in kindergarten," Romney said. "We should be working to clean up the filthy waters our kids are swimming in."
He spoke to more than 150 people Thursday at a restaurant in this city in the northern part of the state, and was to head to central South Carolina for an evening barbecue.
In his new ad that began airing Monday in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Romney says he would "like to see us clean up the water in which our kids are swimming."
"I'd like to keep pornography from coming up on their computers," he says. "I'd like to keep drugs off the streets. I'd like to see less violence and sex on TV and in video games and in movies."
Terry Sullivan, Romney's South Carolina campaign manager, said every ad can be perceived as "a shot at someone."
Giuliani, the former New York mayor, has faced several problems lately. A month ago, his South Carolina campaign chairman, state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was indicted on a federal cocaine distribution charge. Last week, another adviser, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, admitted contacts with the so-called "D.C. Madam."
"We don't have a weekly television show where we put people in jail. We haven't been running for president for a decade," Sullivan said, referring to former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who starred on the television series "Law and Order," and GOP hopeful Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Thompson is considering a run for the Republican nomination for president. McCain, who has a strong organization in South Carolina, has seen his national fundraising lag his opponents.
