For decades now, Democrats running in Ohio - from president to governor to a host of lesser offices - have turned to one man to help give their campaigns a boost - John H. Glenn Jr., the Mercury astronaut who was the first American to orbit the earth.
Glenn, now 90 years old, left the U.S. Senate in 1999 after representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate for 24 years; and he remains one of the most popular figures in Ohio politics - not only for his service in the Senate but for his status as an icon of the U.S. space program.
The Obama-Biden campaign is the latest to turn to Glenn for help.
A radio ad is running across the state featuring Glenn, where he talks about how his dreams began in the tiny eastern Ohio town of New Concord, where "family, church and country came first."
Glenn also talks about President Obama, saying he understands the value of research and education to give young people in Ohio the skills they need to succeed.
"I want the next generation from small town Ohio to dream big and shape their own future, and ours,'' Glenn says.
The ad is mainly running on small town radio stations around the state.
