The ads, being shown Tuesday in New Hampshire and Iowa, respond to an ad campaign from the Republican National Committee that spotlights the controversy surrounding Al Gore's position on the issue.

"The Republican presidential candidates are so busy fighting about who can and cannot serve in the military, they may have forgotten the values we actually fight for," says the 30-second ad produced by the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay advocacy group.

The group is spending $30,000 to air the ad over five days in Iowa beginning Tuesday and four days in New Hampshire from Wednesday.

The group accuses Republicans of exploiting Gore's position on the issue and hopes the ad campaign will help focus attention on the merits of his views -- that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.

In a debate earlier this month, Gore said he would require officers on the Joint Chiefs of Staff to share his position on the matter. Later he backtracked, saying that his appointees would simply be required to implement his policy.

But that clarification did not stop the RNC from running $10,000 worth of ads accusing Gore of setting up a litmus test that Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf couldn't pass.

The gay rights ad does not name any one Republican, but includes shots from a GOP debate of Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer. Bush and McCain have said they would continue President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gays to serve in the military as long as they do not acknowledge their homosexuality. The other GOP candidates want to ban their service altogether.

The RNC ad features shots of soldiers at work, of Powell and Schwarzkopf and ends with: "Call Al Gore. Tell him the only litmus test ought to be for patriotism."

Gore and Bradley, who have essentially the same position, are competing for liberal voters who participate in Democratic primaries and are generally supportive of gay rights. But the RNC hopes the issue will come back to hurt the eventual nominee in the general election, when the competition is for more moderate voters.

Meanwhile, the gay rights group is hoping to influence not just the debate but public opinion.

Its ad says that the military is fighting for core values: "Equality, fairness, freedom, justice -- for all Americans, including gay Americans."

"The purpose of this campaign is to refocus the debate on the core values we think should drive it," said David M. Smith of the Human Rights Campaign. "The debate has been sorely lacking of any substance. The candidates have basically gotten away with simply platitudes."