Obama is running a second Indiana ad making his case against a gas tax holiday.

(CNN) – The Obama campaign released another Indiana response ad Friday to a Hillary Clinton spot that takes aim at his opposition to a gas tax holiday.

“Pennies” – his second ad on the issue — includes quotes from critics who accuse the Clinton campaign of “political pandering.”

On a Thursday conference call with reporters, Clinton senior adviser Geoff Garin said that internal polling suggested her proposal was resonating with primary voters reeling from the impact of rising gas prices.

(Full script follows after the jump)

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Clinton is out with a critical ad in Indiana and North Carolina.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton launched a new ad in North Carolina and Indiana Tuesday that directly criticizes Barack Obama’s proposals to address the explosion in home foreclosures and rising gas costs.

The negative spot comes a week before both states’ crucial May 6 primaries and specifically attacks Obama for not calling for a freeze on mortgage foreclosures and not supporting a suspension of the gas tax.

Clinton has called for a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures and $30 billion for an Emergency Housing Fund. Obama has called for a $10 billion foreclosure prevention fund to help homeowners who are victims of mortgage fraud sell their homes or modify their loans, to avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy.

In response to rising gas costs, both McCain and Clinton have called for a suspension of the gas tax ahead of the summer driving season. McCain's plan would lift the 18.4 cents per gallon tax during peak summer travel months and would suspend the 24.4 cent diesel tax.

Clinton, who rejected a similar idea in 2000, said her plan is different from McCain's, claiming his proposal would cost the government up to $10 billion that would otherwise be used to improve roads. Clinton has said she'd make up for the lost revenue with a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies, meaning their profits over a certain amount would be subject to a 50 percent tax.

Obama does not support a suspension of the gas tax, which he described as a political scheme that would save the average driver $25 to $28. He's instead proposing a tax on oil companies to help low-income families pay energy bills.

"It’s time for a president who’s ready to take action now," the ad's announcer states.

(Full ad script after the jump)

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Dean said the DNC is pressing forward with its ad buy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Republican National Committee said Monday it is asking cable networks not to air what they described as a “maliciously false” ad about John McCain from the Democratic National Committee – and accused Democrats of illegally coordinating efforts with the party’s presidential candidates.

The RNC said the ad was in legal violation because its content was misleading. Asked about the prospect of legal action from Republicans in a conference call late Monday afternoon, DNC Chairman Howard Dean responded: “Let them do it.”

The 30-second spot, slated to run on CNN and on MSNBC, highlights McCain’s comment that it would be acceptable if U.S. troops remained in Iraq for 100 years. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was talking about a peace-keeping mission, not active conflict.

"This is a complaint about the facts that are being misrepresented in this ad," said RNC general counsel Sean Cairncross. "Based on this being a deliberate falsehood. We are saying to the stations, 'You have an obligation.'

The complaint did not alter CNN's original plans. “We have received the letter from the RNC. We plan on airing the ad beginning tomorrow,” the network said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

On a conference call this afternoon, RNC officials accused the DNC of working in concert with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, because they met and used many of the same consultants. The GOP officials, though, refused to pledge not to run similar ads against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The new ad is Clinton’s second negative spot this week.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton’s campaign debuted a new 30-second television spot Tuesday that accuses Barack Obama of accepting donations from energy executives and supporting the Bush-Cheney energy bill – as the Illinois senator’s campaign unveiled a new mailer and Web ad that says she has accepted more lobbyist money than any other candidate.

“Every gallon of gas takes over three bucks from your pocket,” says the announcer in the new Clinton ad, ‘Pocket.’ “But Obama voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill that put $6 billion in the pocket of big oil. Hillary voted against it….”

The new Obama mailer and Web ad make many of the same charges against the New York senator. "Clinton has taken money from lobbyists for oil companies, drug companies and insurance companies,” says the Pennsylvania mailer. “She says they represent ‘real people.’ Do they represent you?"

Clinton and Obama have traded negative ads this week.

(CNN) – Less than a day after Hillary Clinton’s campaign released an ad that said voters were “insulted” by Barack Obama’s recent remarks about some small-town Americans, the Illinois senator’s campaign released a new Pennsylvania spot Tuesday that says people are “rejecting Hillary Clinton’s attacks.”

The 30-second ad opens with some members of a Pennsylvania crowd reacting badly to Clinton in Pittsburgh Monday when she said “I know that many of you, like me… were disappointed by recent remarks that [Obama] made.”

Says an announcer, “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. Barack Obama will represent all Americans. He offers a new approach….”

Obama himself adds: “When we get past the politics of division and distraction and we start actually focusing on what we have in common, there's nothing we can't accomplish…”

Watch Sen. Clinton's new ad, "Pennsylvania."

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a tough new ad Monday that features the reactions of some of her Pennsylvania supporters who say they were “insulted” by Barack Obama’s controversial recent comments about some small-town Americans.

The 30-second spot – which echoes several days of similar criticism from Clinton and her campaign — features a diverse group of voters reacting to Obama’s comments a week ago that some of the state’s residents were “bitter” and turning to guns and religion because of economic pressures.

Full script follows:

Woman 1: I was very insulted by Barack Obama.

Man 1: It just shows how out of touch Barack Obama is.

Woman 2: I'm not clinging to my faith out of frustration and bitterness. I find that my faith is very uplifting.

Man 2: The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better than what Barack Obama said.

Woman 1: Hillary does understand the citizens of Pennsylvania better.

Woman 3: Hillary Clinton has been fighting for people like us her whole life.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Barack Obama has spent a record breaking $60 million to run more than 100,000 political television ads in pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination, a new analysis conducted for CNN shows.

In contrast, John Kerry ran a little more than 19,000 TV ads four years ago in his successful bid for the Democratic nomination, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, CNN’s consultant on political television advertising spending.

Kerry wrapped up the nomination in the first week of March 2004, while there is no end in sight in the battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton for the right to be the 2008 Democratic nominee.

Clinton, who trails Obama in fundraising by about $60 million, has run just over 60,000 TV ads in her bid for the White House.

“If it was not for Obama’s spending, Clinton’s would look pretty impressive,” said Evan Tracey, CMAG’s chief operating officer. “Clearly, the fundraising is being translated immediately into television buys.

Tracey added, “Regardless of the outcome in Pennsylvania it will be very hard to second guess Obama’s strategy. The money he is raising is being immediately translated into television buys in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana.”

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Clinton is on the air in North Carolina.

Hillary Clinton will be going on the air in North Carolina tomorrow with a 60-second ad, "Ask Me," that makes an economic pitch. The ad is her first in the state.

Barack Obama's latest spot that focuses on the middle-class squeeze — "For Decades" — hit the air in Pennsylvania today. The 30-second ad debuted in Indiana last week, and is already on the air in North Carolina.

(Full Clinton script after the jump)

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Sen. Clinton is airing a new ad in Texas

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton – outspent by Barack Obama 5-to-1 on Wisconsin’s airwaves in the weeks before her Tuesday loss – debuted another new ad in Texas and two in Ohio Friday, with less than two weeks to until critical votes in both delegate-rich states.

“In Texas when there’s work to be done, talk doesn’t cut it,” says the announcer in ‘Deliver,’ over images that include a wounded veteran, a group of schoolchildren, and a pick-up truck loaded with bales of hay. “You gotta roll up your sleeves, stand your ground and deliver… In Texas, it’s better done than said, and when it’s all said and done, Hillary delivers.”

The 30-second spot seems to echo a frequent Clinton criticism of Obama: that he represents “speeches, not solutions.”

A new Clinton ad in Ohio is featuring footage of the New York senator telling campaign trail crowds that “It’s time to level the playing field against the special interests.”

The ad highlights Clinton’s plans to cut taxes for the middle class, end corporate loopholes, and help the economy generate jobs – a major concern in the Midwestern state.

The campaign is also running a 30-second spot featuring former astronaut and four-term Senator John Glenn, who recently endorsed Clinton’s presidential bid.

–CNN’s Jeff Simon

Edwards is directly targeting his rivals in new South Carolina ads.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is airing four ads in South Carolina Tuesday that directly contrasts his candidacy with rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The four 10-second spots seek to differ Edwards from his rivals by touting the former North Carolina senator's opposition of NAFTA, his refusal to take money from Washington lobbyists, his pledge not to employ lobbyists in the White House, and a recent CNN Poll showing he is the only Democratic presidential candidate to beat all the Republicans in a general election match up.

The commercials follow Edwards' four-day bus tour of the southern state — an important primary contest for him following his distant third-place showing in New Hampshire last week. Edwards, who was born in South Carolina, won the state in 2004. But recent polls suggest he trails Clinton and Obama there by double digits.

The South Carolina Democratic Primary is scheduled for January 26.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Clinton's campaign has released a new ad at a time when several polls have found the Democratic race tightening.

WASHINGTON (CNN)–Hillary Clinton's campaign is airing a 60-second ad in Iowa and New Hampshire titled "New Beginning."

The spot comes on the heels of several recent polls that have found Illinois Sen. Barack Obama leads decisively among Democratic primary voters looking for change.

Amid shots of the New York senator addressing enthusiastic crowds on the trail, Clinton repeats some familiar elements of her stump speech, including calls for universal health care and an end to No Child Left Behind requirements and the war in Iraq. She also emphasizes her experience, an area where surveys show she holds an edge over Obama.

"It takes strength and experience to bring about change," says Clinton. "I have a very clear record of 35 years fighting for children and families, fighting for working people, fighting for our future."

– CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

Giuliani and wife Judith picked pumpkins in New Hampshire over the weekend.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani highlights his successful battle with prostate cancer in a new radio ad out Monday, and claims a "socialized" healthcare system would have significantly decreased his chances of survival.

“I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago,” the former New York City mayor says in the radio ad set to air in New Hampshire. “My chance of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United States, 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England, only 44 percent under socialized medicine."

“You and I should be making the decisions about what kind of health care we get with our doctors, not with a government bureaucrat," Giuliani continues in the ad. "What we need to do is to give people a $15,000 deduction for a family, a $7,500 deduction for an individual so they can go out and buy their own health insurance.”

All the leading Democratic presidential candidates have proposed universal healthcare plans, a policy approach Giuliani has often referred to as "socialist."

Giuliani dropped out of the New York Senate race in the spring of 2000 after announcing he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent successful surgery the following September.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has spent the most on TV advertising so far among presidential contenders.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A wide-open presidential race and a willingness by candidates, interest groups, unions and corporations to buy TV time will lead to historic spending for political and issue-advocacy advertising in the 2008 election cycle, an analysis shows.

The cost to try to influence the 2008 election could exceed $3 billion, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, CNN's consultant on political television advertising.

This is nearly twice as much than what was spent in 2004 when political and issue-advocacy television advertising rang in at $1.7 billion. In 2006, $2.3 billion was spent on political and issue-advocacy TV commercials.

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