Click here to watch "Pennsylvania."

Moving quickly to exploit the opening created by Barack Obama's recent statements regarding small-town voters, Hillary Rodham Clinton went up in Pennsylvania today with an ad purporting to voice the reaction of regular voters to Obama's comment. The TV spot has the further distinction of being a clear contender for the most aggressively negative ad of the Democratic contest so far.

"Pennsylvania" opens by quoting Obama's remark that some small-town Americans "cling to guns or religion... as a way to explain their frustration." It then spotlights the reactions of five Keystone State voters, including a woman who "was very insulted" and a man who says, "The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better."

In a conference call with reporters this morning, Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson dismissed questions about whether the ad's bluntness signaled that the race was devolving into a "death spiral" for the party.

"We're in the business of advertising issues we think are important," he said. Obama's remarks "became an important issue in the race because he said them."

Wolfson was also eager to point to Obama's hefty media budget in Pennsylvania, a figure he put at $3.3 million for this week alone -- twice, Wolfson said, what Clinton was currently spending.

When asked to comment on a new Web ad from Obama that criticizes Clinton for her alleged coziness with lobbyists, Wolfson retorted, "I try not to respond to Web videos. If it's something they want to put their considerable resources behind by putting it on television, we'll respond to it."