Ad Roundup: Sarah Palin VP Announcement Inspires Ads

Following John McCain's surprise choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Barack Obama's campaign released an ad declaring that a McCain presidency—even if he is teamed with Palin—would still be four more years of the same. A new McCain ad compares Palin and Obama, making the case that Palin comes out on top in terms of reform efforts and experience. Other ads compare Obama to other congressional Democrats, and McCain to President Bush.

Barack Obama: "No Change"
This ad says that a McCain presidency would bring "four more years of the same," even with Palin as his vice president." "While this may be his running mate," the ad says, as the video shows Palin and then transitions to McCain hugging Bush, "America knows this is John McCain's agenda." According to the ad, that agenda will not help the troubled economy and will "keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq."

South Carolina Republican Party: "Home"
The South Carolina GOP Party has released this pro-McCain ad in response to Barack Obama's comments and ad attacking McCain's inability to remember how many houses he owns. The ad, which ran throughout the Republican convention in St. Paul, tells viewers that Obama forgot about one of McCain's homes in his attacks—his prison cell in the "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp in Vietnam. While showing black-and-white photos of the cell and the desolate conditions in the camp, the narrator says, "This is where John McCain was starved, beaten, tortured, and maimed for life. So the next time Barack Obama talks about one of John McCain's homes, remember this one." McCain himself has pointed to his time as a POW when defending his housing comment.article

John McCain: "Expensive Plans"
This ad, released by McCain's camp and the Republican National Committee, opens with a familiar approach likening Obama to a celebrity who gets crowds going with "empty words." While flashing images of Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Christopher Dodd, the narrator says that both Obama and "out-of-touch" congressional leaders have "expensive plans...Billions in new government spending. Years of deficits. No balanced budgets. And painful tax increases on working American families." FactCheck.org says the ad, the first from McCain to explicitly link Obama to congressional Democrats, "is plain wrong about higher taxes on working families." It also describes other ways the ad distorts Obama's tax plan. The McCain campaign has released several other ads attacking Obama on taxes.