ALBANY, N.Y.- State officials have begun a $4.9 million national television advertising campaign featuring Governor Pataki that aides said yesterday is aimed at promoting business development in Lower Manhattan.

Some critics think it may have more to do with promoting Mr. Pataki, and his possible national political ambitions.

The ad campaign, highlighting efforts to rebuild the area in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, comes amid speculation the New York governor may be preparing to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

“The governor says there is a $6 billion (state budget) deficit, yet he is spending taxpayer dollars to promote himself to a national audience,” said state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell.

The new ad opens with a shot of the 20-ton granite cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower being built at ground zero where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

“We’ve stared down the worst that could happen. We’ve seen the best of ourselves,” Mr. Pataki intones. “We’ve recovered, rebuilt, and restored. We’ve reaffirmed our faith in ourselves, each other, and our nation.”

There are subsequent shots of a giant American flag hanging from a Wall Street building and of construction workers high above Manhattan.

As the ad concludes, Mr. Pataki is shown speaking directly into the camera as it pans across the New York City skyline.

“Discover your very own American success story. Build your business right here, right now, in Lower Manhattan, where the only thing greater than today’s success is our vision for tomorrow,” Mr. Pataki tells viewers.

Mr. Pataki’s aides said two versions of the ad will be running through December 19 and that a second three week run will begin January 3.

The ad is airing nationwide on cable news channels including CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, and Bloomberg. It is also airing on network news shows in the nation’s eight largest TV markets – New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

Mr. Pataki had unveiled the ad during a speech November 22 to the Association for a Better New York. It began running a week later.

Complicating any drive by Mr. Pataki for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination is the possibility that former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may also seek the Republican nomination. And Mr. Giuliani is considered the major post-September 11 leader in New York, not Mr. Pataki.

While the ad campaign places Mr. Pataki front and center in the rebuilding effort, a spokesman, Kevin Quinn, said the spots are not aimed at promoting the governor.

“They are meant to highlight the tremendous progress we have made in revitalizing and rebuilding Lower Manhattan, and encouraging businesses to come to New York and invest and create jobs here,” Mr. Quinn said.

“As the state’s chief executive, there’s no better or more trustworthy source of information than the governor,” Mr. Quinn added.

But state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, said he wondered whether the ads were “really attracting business to New York, or are we promoting the governor.” Mr. Silver said he would ask the state comptroller to look into just how much the administration was spending on that and other ads featuring Mr. Pataki.

“They say it promotes New York,” said a frequent administration critic, Blair Horner, a lobbyist for the New York Public Interest Research Group. “It certainly promotes Pataki.”

“It’s clear George Pataki’s top priority is to fulfill his ambition to be anywhere but here in New York tackling the job of governor,” Mr. Farrell said.

But New York City real estate magnate William Rudin, chairman of the Association for a Better New York, said it was “kind of silly” to try to link the ad to “something four years away.”

“Everybody can be critical and skeptical, but it’s important for people to see that there’s progress being made, and the state is putting a substantial amount of money into this campaign,” Mr. Rudin said. “It’s important for not just the people of New York City and New York state, but for the whole nation to see that downtown is recovering.”

“Certainly it could help him, but more important is, can it help us?” said Madelyn Wils, the head of Community Board 1 in Lower Manhattan.

“We’re happy he did this commercial. We feel somewhat neglected at times down here,” said Ms. Wils, a TV producer.

“The governor has done a great service with these ads,” said Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein. Mr. Rubenstein said the ad campaign would help bring businesses to the site.