Sen. Tim Johnson and his wife, Barbara, appear together in the first televised commercial of Johnson's 2008 re-election campaign.

The commercial, titled "Headstrong," shows the Johnsons sitting at a table talking about how their his family decided that the senator should run for a third U.S. Senate term less than a year after he fell ill with a brain hemorrhage on Dec. 13, 2006.

Barbara Johnson says in the commercial that her husband was "a little headstrong" in the way he worked to get back to work in the Senate months after his hemorrhage, emergency surgery and weeks in a drug-induced coma. Johnson replies, "I call it determined."

Sen. Johnson, D-S.D., also addresses his continued speech impairment in the advertisement, saying: "I'm getting better, but my speech needs work." He also says that his illness has "given me a unique view of life."

The advertisement was scheduled to begin running statewide Monday evening, and was accessible on Johnson's campaign Web site, www.timjohnson.com, Monday afternoon.