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GREENSBORO — A new ad by the Republican National Committee is designed to win back voters the party lost in the 2008 elections, RNC chairman Michael Steele said Monday.

Greensboro is one of five markets where Republicans will air a minute-long policy and fundraising pitch for the next three weeks.

In this market, the ad will only play on time the Fox News Channel sets aside for local advertising.

“It’s not geared toward exclusively Republicans,” Steele said. “We want to have a conversation with Democrats, independents, Republicans, tea partiers, a whole world of people who have been involved in elections over the past year who have something important to say.”

He said North Carolina is a state where Republicans can’t afford to lose national elections such as presidential campaigns, as happened in 2008 for the first time since the 1970s.

“We lost because we lost those very people who were no longer sympathetic to our message,” he said. Republicans, he said, didn’t live up to their message. “We’re now in a position of correcting that.”

The ad features Steele, who says “our freedom is threatened” and warns of “redistribution of wealth.” It also attempts to tap discontent that has sparked protests against the Obama administration’s health care reform plans.

“It’s wrong. We can’t afford it,” he says during the commercial. “It threatens our freedom. But if we pull together, people can take our government back.”

It gives a Web site and phone number where people can call to make a donation.

The ad was produced by Mark Stephens, a political consultant and the former business partner of N.C. Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer.

When word of the ad first came on Friday, North Carolina Democrats derided it as an attack offering no solutions.

“It’s more of the same of what we’ve seen from the Republican Party,” N.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Andrew Whalen said last week.

Local Democrats did not seem concerned by the national Republican road show coming to Greensboro.

“It’s clear we’re a target,” said Tom Coley, chairman of the Guilford County Democratic Party.

Coley pointed out that Greensboro is central to a number of federal-level races next year. Republican Sen. Richard Burr is based in Winston-Salem and one of his chief rivals is from Winston-Salem. As well, both Democratic Reps. Mel Watt and Brad Miller represent districts that pass through the county.

While voters inside the Greensboro city limits provide a strong Democratic base, surrounding counties have traditionally been more fertile territory for the GOP.

Coley is skeptical Republicans would see many new donors from the ad.

“If they’re afraid to buy a car or to move to a new house, I don’t believe they’re going to give their money to a political cause unless they already do it,” he said.

Steele was upbeat as he unveiled the ad, addressing a room full of Republican candidates, office holders and advocates at a hotel near the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Similar stops are planned for Tulsa, Okla., Oklahoma City and Cincinnati. Steele already has made a similar appearance in West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats “have lost their minds when it comes to spending the people’s money,” Steele told the crowd to applause.

Afterward, he spoke to reporters, saying it is well within the realm of possibility that

Republicans could take control of the U.S. House of Representatives after this year’s elections.

“Certainly the congressional candidates that I’ve met with and talked to are very impressive,” Steele said. “They’re going to resonate very well with the voters here.”

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com