Ad Roundup: John McCain Blames Barack Obama for the Wall Street Meltdown

The economy remained a hot topic in campaign ads last week. John McCain attacked Barack Obama's role in the current economic meltdown with an ad that directly blames Obama for failing to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A new Republican National Committee ad says that the economy will only get worse if Obama is elected. Obama released another two-minute ad outlining his plan for the economy and hitting McCain for being a "big spender." The vice presidential debate also inspired ads from both campaigns, and two third-party groups released provocative spots.  

Vets for Freedom: "Skipped"
This 527 group of combat veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars goes after Barack Obama in its latest TV ad for "voting against funding for our troops." The ad says, "Obama was chairman of the committee overseeing the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but never held a single hearing." National Journal points out that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on European Affairs has jurisdiction over NATO affairs but does not have direct oversight of the war in Afghanistan. At the first presidential debate, Obama defended his vote on troop funding, saying that he opposed it because there was no timetable. Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro told National Journal the ad was "a despicable distortion of Senator Obama's record" and added that "Senator Obama has been a forceful advocate for our service members."

National Nurses Organizing Committee, California Nurses Association: "One Heartbeat Away"
This ad sends a not-so-subtle message to viewers that Sarah Palin is just "one heartbeat away" from being president. The vocalist in the ad sings, "Your heart's been achin', can't go on forever now" as an EKG appears on the screen and goes flat line. Images of Palin appear, accompanied by text that describes various controversies surrounding the vice presidential nominee ("Billed sexual assault victims for rape kits," "Wants to teach creationism in public schools"). The press release for the ad says that it "coincides with a new report from Bragg Associates, an actuary firm, that John McCain would have a 1 in 4 chance of dying in office from natural causes, which would lead to Palin completing his term." Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, denounced the ad as "offensive and rife with errors and distortions."

Republican National Committee: "Worse"
In the Republican National Committee's latest ad, the narrator first sums up the economic "meltdown" and the proposed bailout plan, saying, "Wall Street squanders our money, and Washington is forced to bail them out with—you guessed it—our money. Can it get any worse?"

"Under Barack Obama's plan," the ad says, "the government would spend a trillion dollars more—even after the bailout." PolitiFact.com finds the "trillion dollars" estimate to be a little shaky. In response to the ad, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement, "For John McCain's party to demagogue a rescue plan that he supports in order to score cheap political points is not only dishonest and dishonorable, it is the height of irresponsibility on a day when we urgently need to pass that plan to prevent an economic catastrophe. So much for country first."

Barack Obama: "Same Path"
Obama speaks directly to voters about the economy again in this two-minute ad, explaining how his plan differs from John McCain's and how in taking a different plan from the one America has been on the past eight years, we will "steer ourselves out of this crisis." His plan involves ending tax breaks for big corporations, providing tax relief to the middle class, and creating millions of jobs. He concludes by saying, "The old trickle«le?ssa»-down theory has failed us. We can't afford four more years like the last eight."

John McCain: "Rein"
This ad describes John McCain's work on regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the press release for the ad, while McCain was fighting to reform the mortgage giants, Obama was "taking their campaign contributions, their advice, and staying silent." The ad uses a clip from last week's Bill Clinton-ABC News interview to argue that Obama is partially responsible for the current crisis, which "didn't have to happen." In the clip, Clinton says, "I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." What Clinton also said in the interview, which did not make it into the ad, was that we should not assign blame to anyone right now because "we will have plenty of time later to look at who caused this and what mistakes were made."

Barack Obama: "Spending Spree"
This ad attacks John McCain on spending, opening with a clip of John McCain introducing Sarah Palin and saying, "I can't wait to introduce her to the big spenders in Washington." The narrator then describes John McCain's plans to spend big: "McCain's tax plan means another $3 trillion in debt. His plan to privatize Social Security—another trillion. Tax credits sent to insurance companies, yet another trillion." The ad concludes by asking, "Can we afford John McCain?" In response to the ad, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, "Barack Obama is lying with impunity, and now he is shamelessly accusing John McCain of being a 'big spender' while failing to cite a single legitimate McCain spending item. . . . The truth is Barack Obama has realized that his requests for a billion dollars in pork barrel spending and his proposal for nearly a trillion dollars in new federal spending is desperately at odds with the American pocketbook."

John McCain: "Tax Cutter"
The McCain campaign released this ad as a follow-up to the vice presidential debate. The ad opens with a clip of Obama at a campaign rally proclaiming to be a "tax cutter," but the narrator says that Obama voted for higher taxes 94 times. And while congressional liberals "at least admit they want to raise your taxes," Obama is "not truthful on taxes." The ad ties in to last Thursday's debate because Sarah Palin and Joe Biden argued about which nominee has raised taxes the most, with Palin saying repeatedly that Obama has voted to raise them 94 times. Biden responded in the debate by saying, "The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way. It was a budget procedural vote. . . . It did not raise taxes. Number two, using the standard that the governor uses, John McCain voted 477 times to raise taxes." In response to "Tax Cutter," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement, "While the McCain campaign continues to feel no shame in repeating one of the most discredited lies of the election, their own candidate is offering a healthcare plan that will actually tax people's benefits for the very first time. Barack Obama will cut taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families and make healthcare affordable and available for every single American."

Barack Obama: "Can't Explain"
This ad from the Obama campaign also incorporates a sound bite from the debate: Biden's comment that McCain's plan to tax healthcare benefits is "the ultimate ‘Bridge to Nowhere.' " The text at the end of the ad reads, "The McCain health tax: What they can't explain." In addition to attacking McCain's proposed healthcare reforms, the ad jabs at Palin's flip-flop on Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." John McCain's website outlines his plans for reforming the healthcare system and says that his proposals will "restore control to the patients themselves" and make health insurance "innovative, portable, and affordable."