BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley unveiled a new campaign ad this week, with his mother making an appearance as he talks about family values in his bid for governor.

WBAL-TV 11 News reporter David Collins said at face value, the ad simply softens O'Malley's image and take the edge off the perception he's a tough political brawler. But political observers suggested the ad is intended to do much more than that -- it's designed to bury an issue that came up long before the race for governor.

Collins reported the television ad is playing exclusively in the Baltimore market. He said it's an image spot reflecting a recurring theme in the O'Malley campaign -- family.

According to the campaign, O'Malley is about putting government back on the side of Maryland families, and the ad is supposed to depict the central role of family in his life. O'Malley has been the mayor of Baltimore since 1999, and even those with a passing interest in the news or politics may know by now that he is married and has four children.

So what gives?

"What he wants to do is soften his image and try to persuade people who may think he's too much of a hard-edged, go-for-the-jugular politician," said political analyst Barry Rascovar.

There is also a campaign spot with O'Malley's son, William.

"My dad is really great," William said in the ad. "We play baseball and he helps me with my homework."

Collins reported the ads might also be part of a strategy designed to bury once and for all infidelity rumors about O'Malley that came to a head last year. Gov. Robert Ehrlich fired his aide Joe Steffen after the Washington Post reported Steffen exchanged e-mails about the rumors with mysterious internet poster MD4BUSH on a conservative Web site.

Collins said questions remain about whether MD4BUSH is a Democratic Party operative who stung Steffen to get the rumors off O'Malley's back.

Political observers also noted that O'Malley is targeting Baltimore during the summer doldrums because polls indicated O'Malley's lead is shrinking. A poll in the Baltimore Sun showed O'Malley leading Ehrlich 46 percent to 38 percent. Last November, the lead was 15 percent.

"The poll results that are most interesting to me in that it shows that O'Malley is at exactly the same place that (2002 gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend) was in July before the election," Rascovar said. "Eight points and slipping."

Collins reported the poll also indicates O'Malley has a slight edge, according to voters, on a question concerning who would do a better job improving education. Coincidently, Ehrlich has a new campaign ad touting his administrations' record on education.