Click here to watch "Candles."

At least John McCain knows what he'll be up against in the general election. With the Democratic candidates otherwise occupied and six months to go before the presidential vote, there are already two ads on the air that use McCain's "100 years" remarks on Iraq to paint him as a standard-bearer for President Bush's policies.

MoveOn.org today announced the launch of "Candles," which uses the image of a birthday cake with a century's worth of burning candles to characterize McCain's plan for Iraq as dangerously open-ended. "One hundred years in Iraq?" an announcer says. "And you thought no one could be worse than George Bush." "Candles" joins a similar spot put out earlier this week by the Democratic National Committee.

MoveOn is running the ad on nationwide cable, as well as in New Mexico and Iowa -- two likely swing states where McCain has already begun airing general election ads. Republicans have protested that Democrats and outside groups are taking McCain's remarks out of context, but they may have to get used to it. The fact that two ads are already deploying the "100 years" charge against him suggests the soundbite -- as well as the picture of McCain embracing Bush that closes MoveOn's ad -- will only continue to haunt the Arizona senator in the coming months.

Click here to watch "America First."

With just six days before voters head to the polls in Indiana and North Carolina, Barack Obama seems to have refocused his campaign efforts within the last 24 hours. From his strong repudiation of Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Tuesday to multiple endorsements Wednesday and the release of four TV spots in the upcoming primary states, the Obama campaign has been busy trying to change the media narrative and get back to his message of change.

Obama is up with two new ads in Indiana today. "Next Door" reminds voters that the senator is from the adjacent state of Illinois and thus, the ad suggests, understands Hoosiers.

"All across Indiana and my home state next door, folks know we desperately need change," Obama says, listing a series of economic challenges facing the country. "But the truth is, to fix these things, we've got to do more than change parties in the White House," he says, suggesting that a vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton would not be a vote for change. Addressing the cynics, Obama acknowledges, "Some people say we can't change Washington." But he ends on an empowering note: "I approve this message to say: On Tuesday, Indiana, you can."

The campaign also launched "Inspiring" (subscription) in the Hoosier State today. The spot, which ran nationally in January, features testimony from one of Obama's professors at Harvard law, a Republican colleague from the Illinois state senate and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and it opens and closes with clips from Obama's address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Continue reading "Red, White And Blue-Collar" »

Click here to watch "Trouble."

Since Super Tuesday, advertising in the Democratic presidential campaign has followed a similar pattern for each contest: start nice, finish nasty. Three new spots from Hillary Rodham Clinton today -- two largely positive and one that contrasts her economic policies with those of Barack Obama -- could be the first sign that the campaign in North Carolina and Indiana will play out that way as well.

Clinton's more assertive new ad, "Trouble," portrays her as the only candidate who can fix a troubled economy. More specifically, it praises her for proposing a freeze on foreclosures and supporting John McCain's plan to suspend the gas tax temporarily. Not surprisingly, McCain receives no credit for the idea; the ad does, however, make sure to mention Obama's opposition to each measure.

If the distinction between "contrast ads" and "attack ads" has any meaning -- with contrast ads highlighting a policy distinction between the candidates and attack ads focusing more critically and personally on their opponent -- "Trouble" would have to be classified as the former. It eschews the confrontational tone of some of Clinton's closing argument ads in Pennsylvania, doesn't dwell on Obama's position and pointedly maintains its upbeat tone and background music throughout. But it's the first ad from either candidate in North Carolina or Indiana to mention the other by name.

Continue reading "Echoes Of Pennsylvania?" »

A chain of gas stations in Minnesota recently denied the state GOP's request to air political ads on the monitors at its pumps, the Pioneer Press reported. Under a plan devised by Minnesota Republicans, people filling up at Holiday gas stations would see an ad claiming that state Democrats have contributed to the increase in gas prices.

In lieu of the pump-side segments, the caucus will run 15-second spots on network TV stations in the Twin Cities starting Tuesday. View one of the ads at the Press' The Political Animal blog.

State House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (D) told the Press that the gas taxes will fund improvements to roads and bridges, and noted that the Republican ad doesn't mention the gas industry's $100 billion in annual profits.

Continue reading "Outside The Spotlight: Politics At The Pump" »

Click here to watch "Jobs"

Barack Obama is the target of yet another negative ad today, but this one is not coming from Republicans. The American Leadership Project, a 527 group financed almost exclusively by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union which has endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, announced today that it is spending $700,000 over the next week to run a TV spot in Indiana calling Obama's economic policy into question.

"Jobs" features ominous music and newspaper headlines that criticize the Illinois senator's economic platform. "The Associated Press reported that Obama's plan to clean up financial markets had 'no specifics,' " an announcer says. "And the Washington Post wrote that what Obama would actually do remains 'a mystery in too many areas.' " In fact, the Post article cited in the ad is an op-ed piece by columnist David Ignatius.

The ad attacks a soft spot for the Obama campaign, as he's struggled to win over working-class white voters. To address that, Obama has retooled his stump speech to focus on the economy while campaigning in Indiana, and he has significantly increased his advertising in the state ahead of the May 6 primary.

Continue reading "A Fiscal Focus In Indiana" »

Click here to watch "100."

The furor over a Democratic National Committee ad that uses footage of John McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comment has only grown since the spot hit national cable stations on Monday. Before the ad was even on the air, the Republican National Committee released a statement castigating the ad's claims as "distortions and smears," and the GOP has only stepped up the pressure in the following days.

In "100," the DNC condenses McCain's answer from a January town hall event in which he compared a long-term presence in Iraq to U.S. policies in South Korea. "Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years," begins a questioner in the audience. "Maybe 100," McCain responds. "That'd be fine by me." The spot then shows scenes of chaos in Iraq, suggesting that McCain was referring to 100 more years of war rather than a peaceful U.S. presence. "If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future?" an announcer asks as the ad concludes.

On Monday, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan called on TV stations not to air "100" and accused national Democrats of illegally coordinating their advertising with the party's presidential candidates. Continuing the tit for tat, DNC Chairman Howard Dean defended the ad in a conference call with reporters yesterday, calling McCain "completely out of touch" on the war.

The RNC isn't the only group leveling accusations of illegal coordination between candidates and outside parties. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a petition with the IRS today challenging the nonprofit status of conservative advocacy group Freedom's Watch, which is running attack ads in the ongoing La.-06 special election.

Click here to watch "Feeling The Pain."

Just hours after John McCain released an advertisement touting his proposals for improving health care, the Service Employees International Union put out its own spot criticizing his approach. Both ads were timed to coincide with McCain's address on health care today.

The union, which has endorsed Barack Obama, is airing "Feeling The Pain" statewide across Ohio as well as in D.C. In the ad, Ohio health care workers say they doubt McCain will curb rising expenses. "John McCain says he'll lower health care costs, but when it comes to making health care affordable here in Ohio, we'll still be feeling the pain," a succession of women in scrubs remark.

Besides criticizing McCain for, among other things, opposing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, "Feeling The Pain" uses file footage of a campaign rally to link McCain to President Bush. Twice, viewers see a black-and-white clip of Bush hugging McCain and kissing him on the head as an announcer lists the times the presumptive Republican nominee has supported Bush's health care policies.

Continue reading "A Kiss-Off For McCain's Health Care Plan" »

Click here to watch "Unlikely Alliance -- Part 2."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Speaker Newt Gingrich star in the latest "Unlikely Alliance" spot from Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. A $300 million organizing and advertising effort, the ACP's "We" campaign seeks to translate popular support for action on global warming into bipartisan political will in Washington.

In the group's previous spot, the Rev. Al Sharpton and televangelist Pat Robertson sat side-by-side on a couch on the beach and playfully discussed their grievances with one another, concluding that climate change was something even they could agree upon. The couch reappears in this new ad, with Pelosi and Gingrich seated in front of the Capitol. The two admit that they don't "always see eye-to-eye" but do "agree our country must take action to address climate change." "We need cleaner forms of energy and we need them fast," Pelosi urges, while Gingrich adds, "If enough of us demand action from our leaders, we can spark the innovation we need."

Continue reading "Pelosi And Gingrich Go Green For Gore" »

Click here to watch "Health Care Action."

Iowans still recovering from the frenzy of the presidential caucuses might be surprised to turn on their TVs this week and find the race has already returned.

John McCain's campaign today announced it would begin running a 60-second spot in the Hawkeye State focusing on McCain's health care plan. In "Health Care Action," a sedate McCain proposes solutions to help Americans pay for the rising cost of health care, including a $5,000 tax credit for every family. "There's many, many solutions to this problem," he says. "I think we can address them."

The spot complements McCain's focus on health care this week, echoing his campaign's message of the moment just as his last ad on the economy immediately followed a key address on the economy and his series of bio spots appeared during his biographical publicity tour.

Iowa might not be the most obvious place to run a general election ad, but McCain's advisers have said they're not planning to run a traditional presidential campaign. By airing the spot in Iowa's inexpensive TV markets, the Arizona senator could pick up some discounted national media coverage if cable news networks pick up the story. And by targeting voters in a possible swing state, McCain is establishing himself early in what could be an expanded field of purple states, while also making amends for largely skipping the caucuses there.

Click here to watch "1884."

When the Democratic presidential primary circus comes to town, downballot candidates in most states know they can expect above-average primary turnout and a more engaged electorate. In states like Nebraska, however, which held its Democratic presidential caucuses on February 9 but doesn't have congressional primaries until May 13, there's a greater hurdle involved in getting supporters to the polls. Call it the fervor gap.

Advertising is just one method candidates can use to reach voters, but it's one that can take on an outsized importance when distances are far, voters are few and engagement is low. No surprise then that both Democrats running to replace retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) have purchased ad time in order to introduce themselves to Nebraskans, particularly in Omaha and Lincoln, the state's biggest cities and home to the highest concentrations of registered Democrats.

Tony Raimondo, a businessman making his first bid for public office, launched his first two TV spots this month. The first, "Great Boss," features employees of Raimondo's manufacturing plant in Columbus telling viewers about their boss's background while praising his leadership and business skills. "Tony took over a failing company and built it into a Nebraska success story," they say in the ad. Raimondo goes it alone in his second spot, in which he argues that the war in Iraq is distracting us from domestic priorities and we need to "honorably bring our troops home."

Continue reading "Can TV Close Nebraska's Fervor Gap?" »

Click here to watch "Cost."

So far, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have held off running negative ads against each other in North Carolina and Indiana. Apparently, they prefer to save their attacks for oil companies, which are taking a beating from both sides as gas prices continue their ascent into record territory.

This weekend, Clinton released "Cost" in both states, criticizing oil companies in some of the harshest terms of the campaign and promising tough leadership to help working families at the pump. Among the proposals the ad mentions: "Take some of the windfall profits of Big Oil to pay to suspend the gas tax this summer" (the so-called "gas-tax holiday" was first proposed by John McCain); investigate energy companies for "price gouging and collusion"; and make them "invest in new clean energy sources."

By promising to alleviate high gas prices, the ad presents Clinton as a problem-solver who would make a real difference in people's lives and furthers the message of Clinton's other spots in North Carolina and Indiana, which have focused more on the economy than any other issue. That's not to say Clinton's media team has completely stopped needling the competition. The new spot's closing line -- "With gas this expensive, talk is cheap. We need leadership." -- sounds a lot like her camp's earlier efforts to paint Obama as all talk and no action.

Click here to watch "Health Care."

Barack Obama is becoming a more familiar face for TV viewers in Mississippi and Louisiana, but not by choice; instead, the Illinois senator is the focal point of several new commercials being run by Republican groups ahead of special elections to be held in both states in early May.

Whereas Hillary Rodham Clinton was once considered the Democrat that Republicans would most like to see at the top of the ticket in November, Obama's "bitter" comments and his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright have helped make him more vulnerable to attack from the right. Now Republicans are using Obama's missteps to target downballot candidates.

In Mississippi's First District, Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R) is facing off against Democratic businessman Travis Childers in a runoff to replace Rep. Roger Wicker (R), who moved to the Senate after Trent Lott's resignation. While the seat had been considered safe for the GOP, Childers shocked pundits by coming within 400 votes of capturing it in the first round of voting on April 22. Now, the National Republican Congressional Committee and Davis are going on the offense, launching negative ads that link Childers to Obama, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi.

Continue reading "Obama Targeted In Special Elections" »

Click here to see "The Change."

With years of campaign experience, high name recognition and support from the party establishment, Bruce Lunsford is the favorite to win Kentucky's Democratic Senate primary next month. But in a new TV ad, Lunsford's opponent, Greg Fischer, argues that even if Lunsford were able to defeat incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) this fall, he would bring "no change at all."

Fischer has adopted the change mantle in the race, using a slogan ("Change you can trust") that's very similar to Barack Obama's ("Change we can believe in"). His new TV spot is a fast-paced piece featuring a patchwork of video clips that introduce Fischer as a public servant, not a politician.

Continue reading "Fischer Claims The Change Mantle In Kentucky" »

Click here to watch "Tougher."

As the North Carolina GOP faces mounting criticism over its inflammatory ad featuring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the state's Democrats have proven they, too, can use racially charged imagery with the release of a new attack ad from gubernatorial candidate Richard Moore, the state treasurer.

The latest in a series of harsh attack spots, "Tougher" calls out Moore's primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, for having voted in 1987 against a bill to widen investigations into "hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan." Both Democrats have worked to court black voters, and "Tougher" seems intended to erode Perdue's support with this group in particular, pointing out that "the entire black legislative caucus" voted for the bill.

Perdue was quick to respond, releasing a radio spot yesterday to stations with primarily black audiences that features former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt touting Perdue's record on civil rights, claiming that she "has always stood up for us." And today, her camp put out a TV spot with Alma Adams, chair of the state's legislative black caucus, defending Perdue and calling Moore's attacks "outrageous."

The North Carolina GOP, facing pressure from Democrats (as well as John McCain) to withdraw its ad, is crying hypocrisy, reported NBC News/National Journal's Carrie Dann. State party chairwoman Linda Daves released a statement telling Democrats to "clean up your own house before you tell us how to run ours."

Click here to watch "Turn It Off."

The national spotlight continues to shine on North Carolina today over a state Republican Party ad highlighting Barack Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But voters in the Tar Heel State haven't been getting just one side of the story; the Obama camp has released several TV ads there ahead of the state's May 6 primary.

"Turn It Off" places Obama in an elementary school classroom, where he talks about the importance of education and parental involvement. "For me the American dream began in a room like this," Obama says, playing up his humble beginnings. "My family didn’t have much money, but education made everything possible."

He goes on to outline "The Obama Plan" for improving education but then moves beyond the typical political message to offer something of a lecture to parents. "The truth is government can’t do it all. As parents we need to turn off the TV, read to our kids, give them that thirst to learn."

Continue reading "Obama Teaches Good Parenting" »

Click here to watch "Pull The Plug."

With just under a month to go before voters head to the polls in the Oregon Senate Democratic primary, attorney Steve Novick refuses to let up in his effort to upset state House Speaker Jeff Merkley.

Merkley has the backing of the Democratic establishment, including Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer, who, as Roll Call points out, has "a proven record of shepherding his preferred candidate to victory."

Hoping to capitalize on his financial advantage, Merkley has increased his TV advertising, releasing a new spot that features his wife, nurse Mary Sorteberg, praising his commitment to fix health care. Dressed in scrubs, Sorteberg describes her husband's decision to run for the Senate as "a calling." "Jeff is passionate about changing this country and fixing health care so everyday people get the care they need," she claims. She hits on the general points of Merkley's health care plan -- "tak[ing] power away from the drug and insurance lobbyists and giv[ing] it back to patients" -- while insisting that he will look to health care professionals when making policy decisions.

Continue reading "Upstart vs. Establishment In Oregon" »

Click here to watch "Appreciate."

With the Pennsylvania primary finally over, the Democratic presidential contest will move on to North Carolina, where another fiercely fought Democratic primary is already under way in the gubernatorial race.

The two Democrats running to replace term-limited Gov. Michael Easley (D) continued their high-spending ad war this week, with Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue keeping her promise to run only positive ads despite a harsh attack spot from Treasurer Richard Moore.

Moore's latest ad charges Perdue with weakening efforts to keep guns out of schools and voting to toughen abortion restrictions. "Is Bev Perdue a Democrat we can trust?" it asks. Perdue's campaign was quick to respond with "From Me," a "positive campaign fact check" disputing Moore's charges, touting Perdue's endorsement by state police and teachers, and reiterating her pledge to avoid negative advertising.

Continue reading "Guns & Griffith In N.C. Gov. Race" »

Click here to watch "Extreme."

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before inflammatory video clips of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright found their way into ads attacking Barack Obama. But the North Carolina Republican Party is using the controversial pastor's remarks to hit two unexpected targets -- Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore -- in addition to Obama.

In an ad set to debut on Monday, one week before North Carolina's primary, the state GOP highlights Obama's relationship with Wright and criticizes Democratic gubernatorial candidates Perdue and Moore for endorsing the Illinois senator. "Extreme" begins with an announcer saying, "For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor," followed by footage of Wright saying "God damn America" during a sermon. The announcer adds that Perdue and Moore "should know better. [Obama's] just too extreme for North Carolina."

Continue reading "State Parties Seize On Obama's Missteps" »

As all eyes in the U.S. are on the presidential candidates' copious ad buys, a controversy over too much political advertising is raising eyebrows in Canada.

The offices of Canada's Conservative Party were recently raided by investigators with a warrant alleging that the party has exceeded its legal limit on advertising by $1 million, Canadian Press reported.

Federal regulators claim that the Tories have been transferring funds to local candidates, who then buy ad time for television spots promoting the national party, the Vancouver Sun wrote. The party denies any wrongdoing.

Continue reading "Outside The Spotlight: North Of The Border" »

Click here to watch "Jobs" and "David."

For all the money poured into Pennsylvania in the last two weeks, Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign must have been saving some of its ad budget for the next two contests, in Indiana and North Carolina. Today Clinton released new ads in each state, both notably free of the vitriol that came to dominate Pennsylvania airwaves.

"I think this election, particularly here in Indiana, is about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs," says Clinton at the start of her newest ad in Indiana. Picking up the economic theme of her two previous Hoosier State ads, "Jobs" hits many familiar Clinton points -- she'll "fix unfair trade deals" and "stop tax breaks" for outsourcing companies -- and ends with an uplifting message about "putting the American people first."

Continue reading "Looking Down The Road" »

When the results are tallied from today's long-awaited primary, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will find out exactly what they got in return for the estimated $20 million their campaigns have spent in Pennsylvania on advertising alone. After a six-week effort in which Obama aired 21 ads and Clinton 14, the state's media markets are beyond saturated.

After ceding the airwaves to Obama for two weeks in March, Clinton made up for lost time by pouring on the ads and heating up the rhetoric, releasing spots attacking Obama over his "bitter" faux pas, the sources of his campaign contributions and alleged holes in his health care plan. Obama countered with his own ads, and the candidates continued to trade televised jabs right up to Monday afternoon.

As Pennsylvanians head to the polls, here's an overview of what they've been seeing and hearing:

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Voters Get An Earful" »

Click here to watch "Better Off?"

More outside help arrived for the Democratic presidential candidates today as another group -- this time the Democratic National Committee -- stepped in to challenge John McCain on the airwaves while Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton play out their slow-motion primary showdown. The new spot is the fourth in the past week and a half to target McCain, joining earlier buys from the Ohio Democratic Party and two advocacy groups.

The DNC's first ad (subscription) of the election, which begins airing today on national cable networks, uses footage of McCain from a Jan. 30 Republican debate to suggest he's out of touch with the economic anxieties of ordinary Americans. Contrasting McCain's comment that "Americans overall are better off" than they were eight years ago with grim statistics on inflation and gas prices, the ad concludes with an announcer asking viewers, "Do you feel better off?"

Days before the ad hit the airwaves, it was already under attack from Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, who issued a statement on Sunday saying the spot "recklessly distorts John McCain's statements." But while the ad selectively edits McCain's answer, leaving out his acknowledgment that "things are tough right now," that hardly makes it atypical in the world of modern political advertising. As AP noted on Monday, "This type of selective quoting has become commonplace."

Click here to watch "He Has What It Takes."

Not willing to let Hillary Rodham Clinton have the final word in Pennsylvania with Monday's "Kitchen" spot, Barack Obama released another ad late in the afternoon of the final day before voting began.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton accused the Clinton campaign of fear-mongering in its ad, which includes shots of Osama bin Laden and the attack on Pearl Harbor. "We already have a president who plays the politics of fear, and we don't need another," Burton said in a statement Monday. Obama's final Pennsylvania ad takes a similarly pugnacious tone.

"He Has What It Takes" hits implicitly on themes which the Obama campaign has already raised repeatedly in six weeks of increasingly negative campaigning -- Clinton's ties to lobbyists and her vote authorizing the Iraq war -- and an announcer asks, "Who in times of challenge will unite us -- not use fear and calculation to divide us?" The ad ends on a positive note, however, with footage of Obama delivering patriotic lines from his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Click here to watch "Every."

If undecided voters in the Keystone State aren't swayed by the deluge of ads coming from the Clinton and Obama camps, several third-party groups have stepped in to make the case for their preferred Democrat.

With Barack Obama spending nearly three times more than his opponent on advertising in Pennsylvania, a pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton 527 group, The American Leadership Project, hoped to help level the playing field by launching an ad last week attacking Obama's health care policy. "Hillary Clinton's health care plan would help every American get affordable, quality health care; Barack Obama's plan would leave as many as 15 million Americans uncovered," an announcer claims. "So you would either be one of the millions without coverage, or you'll keep paying more to provide emergency health care for the millions of uninsured."

The group is funded largely by two unions that have endorsed Clinton, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Machinists Union, but has also received contributions from individual donors who have already given the maximum $2,300 directly to the Clinton campaign. The New York Times reports that ALP has had trouble fundraising, however, and will only spend about $425,000 in Pennsylvania, though the group says it intends to play a bigger role in the upcoming Indiana contest.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Potpourri" »

Click here to listen to "More Of The Same."

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton aren't the only ones facing negative advertising this week; tomorrow, the Ohio Democratic Party will greet John McCain with a new radio ad airing in the Youngstown area, where the Arizona senator will be arriving to continue his tour of the "forgotten places in America."

"More Of The Same," which ODP calls its first of the general election, challenges McCain on the very issue he'll be promoting in Ohio: the economy. "After months of ignoring Americans' worries about the economy, John McCain is trying to make up for his mistake by making lots of big promises," an announcer says, going on to accuse McCain of opposing overtime pay and promoting policies that would result in "more homes foreclosed on, more American jobs shipped overseas."

Besides attacking McCain on a sensitive topic, the ad chips away at his image as a political "maverick," calling attention to his "25 years in Washington" and tying him to the policies of the current president. "The more you learn, the more you see he's just more of the same," an announcer charges. That line echoes ongoing efforts at the national level by Democrats and outside groups to tie McCain to President Bush, particularly on economics.

Given the contours of the last two presidential elections and the fact that the Youngstown media market borders Pennsylvania, another likely swing state, it seems a safe bet that this buy is only the first of many that will bombard local listeners this general election season.

Click here to watch "Exactly."

Pennsylvania residents witnessed perhaps the most vitriolic days of the Democratic primary race over the weekend, with Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton slapping back and forth at one another in campaign stops across the state.

The Obama campaign has largely steered clear of negative advertising over the course of the primary contest. But, as CBS News reported, over the last several days "Obama has begun to fight fire with fire. In ads, campaign mailings and rhetoric, Obama is getting much tougher as this campaign (perhaps) nears some sort of finish line."

Four new TV ads released since late last week demonstrate the fierce tone that the Obama team has adopted in Pennsylvania, with the Illinois senator hitting Clinton on health care, ties to lobbyists and what he characterizes as her negative tactics.

Continue reading "Obama On Offense" »

Click here to watch "Talk."

Given the intensity of the competition between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Pennsylvania primary campaign, it's hardly surprising that both candidates released a flurry of new advertising over the weekend -- or that much of it was negative.

By some measures, Clinton's camp has toned down its message since last week -- when one report suggested she was running only attack ads in many parts of the state -- but her latest slew of advertising could hardly be described as a soft sell. Of the five new TV ads Clinton unveiled in the past 24 hours, one implicitly questions Obama's experience and two others are direct attacks.

"Kitchen" makes something of a historical case against Obama. Using footage of the Pearl Harbor attack, Nikita Khrushchev, gas lines in the '70s, Osama bin Laden and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the spot makes a classic sales pitch for the "experience" candidate without ever mentioning Obama directly. "It's the toughest job in the world.... Who do you think has what it takes?" an announcer asks.

"It's really our closing argument in Pennsylvania, unlike Senator Obama's closing argument that has really been negative and an assault on Senator Clinton," said Clinton strategist Geoff Garin in a conference call with reporters. When pressed on the ad's implicit contrast between Obama's readiness to lead and Clinton's, Garin called it "entirely a positive ad." "To say that she is the best choice" to lead the country, "there's nothing negative about that," he added.

Continue reading "Clinton's 'Closing Argument'" »

Click here to listen to "Two Peas In A Pod -- Coleman."

A new radio ad launched today as part of the Bush Legacy Project, an advertising campaign (subscription) intended to keep the pressure on President Bush during his last year in office, takes as its target not Bush himself but members of Congress who have supported his policies.

Focusing on Republican Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and John Sununu of New Hampshire, along with four Republican congressmen, the ad buy hits its targets on two particularly sensitive issues for the president's party this season: the economy and Iraq.

"What has Senator Norm Coleman done?" asks an announcer in the Minnesota version (subscription) of the ad. "He's supported Bush's trickle-down economics that got us into this mess... and supported Bush's war in Iraq."

Continue reading "The Price Of Loyalty" »

Click here to watch "Condi Must Go."

Some pundits have placed Condoleezza Rice on the short list of potential vice presidential nominees for John McCain, but one coalition of liberal activists doesn't think the secretary of state should even be allowed to keep her current position.

TrueMajority.org and Democracy for America partnered with activist filmmaker Robert Greenwald's production company to run what they call a "smoking gun" advertisement on Philadelphia airwaves during Wednesday night's Democratic debate. Citing recent news reports suggesting that Rice condoned the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, "Condi Must Go" (subscription) argues that Rice has acted illegally while in office.

The spot juxtaposes congressional testimony in which Rice said that "the United States doesn't and can't condone torture" with revelations that "the president's top advisers personally approved specific" harsh interrogation methods. "Rice personally told the CIA: 'This is your baby. Go do it,'" the ad says. It directs viewers to a Web site, CondiMustGo.com, where they can sign a petition calling for her removal from office.

Click here to watch "Management."

On the campaign trail, taking the moral high ground can sometimes mean ending up in an uncomfortable place. North Carolina Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat running for governor, is being reminded of that lesson after extending an olive branch last week to her primary opponent, state Treasurer Richard Moore, by pulling all her negative advertising off the air and asking third-party groups to do the same.

It didn't take long for Moore to dismiss the move as a political gimmick, and on Monday his campaign kept the pressure up with a new attack ad (subscription) blasting Perdue as a poor business manager, ill-prepared to run the state. About half of the 30-second spot is devoted to criticizing Perdue; the other half praises Moore as a "trusted manager" and good steward of North Carolina's finances.

Moore has also hit Perdue for failing to rein in her surrogates -- in particular, two independent groups that this week sent out a mailer questioning Moore's performance as state treasurer. (Perdue has since reiterated her appeals for a positive campaign.) Although North Carolina voters tell pollsters they approve of Perdue's pledge, it looks as if partisans on both sides will make it a tough promise to keep.

Click here to watch "Unlikely Alliance"

President Bush's new climate change proposal was greeted with skepticism and scorn on Wednesday, as some pundits believe the proposal is too little, too late from a leader who has largely declined to address global warming.

One organization that is looking for more dramatic action from the federal government on the issue is former Vice President Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. The nonprofit group, funded largely by Gore himself, has launched the second TV ad of its "We Campaign," a $300 million advertising and grassroots effort whose "ultimate aim is to halt global warming," according to the campaign's Web site.

"Unlikely Alliance" (subscription) features a duo that most Americans would never expect to see on the same side of a political battle -- liberal activist Rev. Al Sharpton and conservative televangelist Pat Robertson. The two talk playfully about their disagreements but stress that climate change is an issue that people of all political stripes can agree on.

Continue reading "Sharpton & Robertson Join Gore's Climate Crusade" »

Click here to watch "Trillions More" and "Out Of Touch."

The prolonged Democratic race has given John McCain relative freedom to lay the groundwork for his general election campaign while his opponents are busy bloodying one another. For his media team, that has meant pre-emptively defining his candidacy through a series of ads depicting McCain as a politically independent war hero.

But while the Democratic candidates are too distracted to knock back a rising McCain, several liberal advocacy organizations have begun stepping into the void.

Continue reading "No Free Ride For McCain" »

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Seeking to put "Bittergate" behind him, Barack Obama released a new TV ad in Pennsylvania on Tuesday suggesting that rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's response to his recent gaffe has been excessive, and that it is part of an old style of politics that voters are rejecting this primary season.

Clinton has indeed mentioned the "bitter" comment on the trail every day this week, and she released what many consider to be the first true attack ad of the Democratic race on Tuesday, featuring Pennsylvanians reacting negatively to the Illinois senator's remarks. Obama said Tuesday that the New York senator's reaction is one of desperation: "This is what we do politically, when we start getting behind in races. We start going on the attack." But with his response ad, Obama hopes to turn the tables on Clinton.

"Represent" (subscription) shows footage of a crowd booing Clinton when she said at an event in Pittsburgh on Monday that she was "disappointed" by Obama's remarks. "There's a reason people are rejecting Hillary Clinton's attacks -- because the same old Washington politics won't lower the price of gas or help our struggling economy," an announcer declares.

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While the Democratic ad war in Pennsylvania becomes increasingly embittered, the airwaves in Indiana and North Carolina -- the two primary contests after the Keystone State -- have remained notably free of internecine mudslinging.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's newest television spot, her second in Indiana after last week's endorsement ad from Sen. Evan Bayh, continues that trend by focusing criticism on President Bush and the effect of his policies on America's security and the state's economy.

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