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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Republicans will release a new Web video Wednesday morning that features several Democrats voicing conflicting statements on whether a "public option" is needed for health care reform.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is seeking to exploit differences within the Democratic Party over how best to reform the nation's health care system just hours before President Obama is scheduled to deliver a nationally televised address on the issue.

Watch the NRSC video here.

‬Follow Mark Preston on Twitter: @prestoncnn

FRC has not yet released the size of its ad buy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Family Research Council is launching a television ad attacking a public health insurance option as a plan that will shortchange seniors and increase access to abortion, as social and religious conservatives ramp up a pushback against President Obama's health care reform package.

The group said it plans to buy air time in five states with moderate Democratic senators, most of whom are considered possible swing votes on health care: Pennsylvania (Arlen Specter and pro-life Bob Casey), Arkansas (Blanche Lincoln), Alaska (Mark Begich), Louisiana (Mary Landrieu), and Nebraska (Ben Nelson).

In the ad, an elderly couple is shown sitting at their kitchen table. "And to think that Planned Parenthood is included in the government-run health care plan and spending tax dollars on abortions," a man says to his wife. "They won't pay for our surgery, but we are forced to pay for our abortions."

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HCAN and AFSCME are taking aim at critics of the Obama plan.

(CNN) – Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who favor President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, are switching their focus from potential congressional swing votes to staunch opponents, announcing a half-million dollar ad buy Thursday that targets some key GOP critics of the legislation.

"Republicans intent on killing reform for political gain need to be held accountable for their actions," said Richard Kirsch, Health Care for America Now's national campaign director.

The spots - updated versions of the group's election-year "Fighter" ad featuring a cancer survivor - will run for the next five days in areas represented by Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander and seven Republican congressmen, including David Camp of Michigan, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dave Reichert of Washington, Mark Souder of Indiana, Pat Tiberi of Ohio, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, and John Shadegg of Arizona, who introduced a GOP health insurance reform bill last week that HCAN says would make it easier for companies to deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Last week, HCAN and AFSCME made another six-figure buy aimed at half a dozen Democratic members of Congress and two senators whose support for the final version of the health care reform bill is in question.

The Dodd campaign is out with a new ad that features Sen. Ted Kennedy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, once again has some high-powered help in his 2010 re-election bid.

Dodd began airing a new television ad Sunday that features his long time friend, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

"Quality health care as a fundamental right has been the cause of my life," Kennedy says in the 30-second TV spot. "And Chris Dodd has been my closest ally in this fight."

Kennedy adds that "I believe that with Chris Dodd's leadership, our families will finally have accessible, affordable health care."

The Connecticut Democrat has already aired an ad featuring President Obama praising his work on credit card reform legislation.

The Kennedy ad is running state-wide on broadcast and cable outlets Dodd campaign manager Jay Howser told CNN. Howser said the campaign is spending at least $100,000 for the ad that is scheduled to run for at least a week.

Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, is the chairman of one of the congressional committees charged with crafting the Democrats' health care reform bill. Dodd has taken a leading role in championing the legislation in Kennedy's absence.

Public polling now indicates that Dodd faces a difficult re-election in 2010.

The NRCC's new tv spot has a Mission Impossible theme.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Republicans have launched a coordinated public relations blitz against 17 congressional Democrats that seeks to tie them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her accusations that the CIA misled Congress about the interrogation of terror suspects.

Specifically, the multi-faceted campaign targets these Democrats with television or radio ads, or a pre-recorded telephone message to constituents' homes, that criticizes the members of Congress for voting against initiating an investigation into when Pelosi learned about the use of waterboarding.

It is the first time the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the congressional GOP, has bought a TV ad using Pelosi's comments about the CIA. Late last week, the Republican National Committee posted a Web video comparing the House speaker to the James Bond character Pussy Galore. The RNC video has since been removed from its Web site and You Tube.

(Updated after the jump with Democratic response)
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National Democrats are out with a new ad spotlighting some of the president's accomplishments during the first 100 days of his administration.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Democratic National Committee launching a new television ad in anticipation of President Obama's 100th day in office.

The new ad, titled "Foundation for Change," focuses on some of Obama's legislative accomplishments during his young administration and highlights the president's three primary domestic policy agenda items – energy, health care, and education.

The 60-second spot spotlights the passage of Obama's $787 stimulus bill along with legislation that expanded funding for children's health insurance and a bill that made it easier to sue for pay discrimination.

The ad also features footage from Obama's address to a joint session of Congress soon after his swearing-in, where he laid out his ambitious domestic policy agenda, and made the case for pursuing it even as the country struggled to jumpstart a deeply recessionary economy. The ad calls Obama's domestic agenda "a bold plan for the future."

"Foundation for Change" will air on cable Tuesday and Wednesday nationally and in the Washington, D.C. area, according to the DNC.

Wednesday will mark Obama's 100th day in office. The president is scheduled to hold a primetime press conference on that day.

The DNC is calling on Norm Coleman to concede to Al Franken.

(CNN) - Five months after Election Day, the Democratic National Committee has a message for Republican Norm Coleman.

“Enough is enough,” a female voice says in a new DNC radio ad that is set to begin airing in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

The release of the ad comes one day after a three-judge court in Minnesota ruled against Coleman in his post-election contest. Coleman filed a lawsuit in an effort to close a narrow lead Democrat Al Franken held after a recount in their razor-thin race Senate race. Coleman’s lawyer said Tuesday that the Republican plans to appeal the ruling to the state’s highest court.

The DNC ad encourages radio listeners to call Coleman – even providing his phone number - and tell him “to stop putting his political ambition ahead of what is right for Minnesota.”

“Al Franken won the election, the recount and now the legal challenge where his lead actually grew,” Tim Kaine, Democratic National Chairman and governor of Virginia.

“It's time for Norm Coleman to concede and for Al Franken to be sworn in as the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota.”

The new ad will air on news talk radio stations in the Twin Cities metro area, according to the DNC

Listen: 'Enough is enough,' DNC ad says

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Rush Limbaugh is featured along with several Republican leaders in Congress in a new ad out Friday paid for by two liberal groups.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new ad out Friday argues that the Republican leadership in Congress is following Rush Limbaugh’s lead.

Entitled “No,” the 30-second television spot, highlights Republican opposition to the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package.

“So who are Republican leaders listening to?,” an announcer asks before the ad cuts abruptly to footage of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh saying “I want him [Obama] to fail.”

“No,” is paid for by Americans United for Change and AFSCME, two groups that supported Obama during the general election and who are advocating for his agenda now that he’s in the Oval Office. The ad airs Friday through early next week on national cable and in the Washington area, according to a statement by Americans United for Change announcing the ad.

Limbaugh is set to speak Saturday in Washington at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative activists.

Updated Noon with RNC response: “The Democrats are running a permanent campaign rather than doing the bipartisan work of governing," Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant said in an e-mail to CNN. "These ads are part of the Democrats’ larger strategy to do something, anything to try to take the focus of their massive spending binge," Conant added.

One of Georgia Democrat Jim Martin's ads bears a striking resemblance to an earlier ad by the Obama campaign.

(CNN) - It's been less than three weeks, but more than $4 million has already been spent on the airing of campaign commercials in the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia, according to new numbers from the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, will face off against Democrat Jim Martin, a former Georgia lawmaker, in a runoff election on Tuesday December 2, one week from today. The freshman incumbent won a plurality of the vote three weeks ago on Election Day, but Georgia state law calls for the winner to grab 50 percent plus one vote. Due to the inclusion of a third party candidate, Chambliss fell just shy of that threshold, forcing a runoff contest.

According to the numbers from CMAG, Chambliss's campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have spent just over $1.7 million in ad time since the day after the November 4 vote, with Martin's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spending more than $1.6 million. Outside groups account for the remaining $770,000 in campaign commercial spending. The vast majority of that money was spent by Freedom's Watch, a group that backs Republican candidates.

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A new RNC tv ad argues that Sen. Obama is too inexperienced to captain the nation through the rough seas that it faces right now.

(CNN) – Like the recent gyrations of the stock market, the new television ad from the Republican National Committee is almost enough to make you feel seasick.

“Storm” is not fancy. The 30-second spot is composed of little more than images of choppy seas – with waves falling and cresting as the camera does the same – giving the viewer the feeling of being stranded at sea in the middle of bad weather.

“Some now say this storm cannot get worse,” the ad says. “But what if the storm does get worse? With someone who’s untested at the helm,” the ad says as the image of a small boat momentarily appears onscreen, buffeted by waves.

The Obama campaign responded to the “Storm” by trying to turn the ad’s basic metaphor against Sen. John McCain. "In case the McCain campaign hasn't noticed, the financial storm has already hit, and John McCain responded by erratically steering his ship in about five different directions,” Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement. “The reason that a vast majority of Americans trust Barack Obama to fix this economy is because of the steady leadership he has shown and the change he is promising in this election. No amount of predictable, last-minute fear tactics from will change the fact that John McCain is out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time," Sevugan added.

“Storm” was produced by the RNC’s independent expenditure unit. The RNC says the ad will begin to air Monday in Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Missouri.

(full script after the jump)

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Sen. Hillary Clinton, who supports Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid, is featured in an anti-Obama newspaper ad by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

(CNN) – The Republican Jewish Coalition is backing Sen. John McCain for president, but the group’s latest newspaper ad uses Sen. Hillary Clinton’s record on issues of particular concern to Jewish voters (along with that of McCain) to make the case against Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee.

The latest installment in the group’s series of ads in Jewish newspapers across the country features Clinton’s positions on Jerusalem, meeting with leaders of hostile nations, and labeling Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization alongside that of the two men still running for the White House. The ad portrays Clinton and McCain as agreeing on all three foreign policy issues with Obama as the outlier.

“Now are you concerned about Barack Obama?,” the ad says. “You should be,” it reads in all capital letters.

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Watch CNN=Politics Daily, the Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) – With just 12 days until Election Day, the struggling economy is Issue #1 on the campaign trail.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Ed Henry reports on Sen. John McCain’s emphasis on taxes in an effort to win over middle-class voters. Henry is on the campaign trail in Florida for McCain’s first event of the day.

Jessica Yellin is also out on the trail with Sen. Barack Obama. She has the latest on Obama’s response to recent McCain attacks calling Obama’s economic philosophy “socialist.” Yellin also reports on Obama’s upcoming break from campaigning in order to go to Hawaii and visit his ailing grandmother.

American Morning’s John Roberts uses the Magic Wall to update you on CNN’s latest polls from several battleground states. Roberts also has a look at where things stand between McCain and Obama on CNN’s Electoral Map.

Finally, Carol Costello reports on the deluge of robocalls voters are receiving in some key states. It’s gotten so bad that a robocall one has been launched  to respond to another robocall. Watch (and listen) for yourself.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

John Mellencamp joined Sen. Obama at an Indiana campaign event in April.

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama’s latest pitch to Indiana voters: hometown rocker John Mellecamp.

The Illinois senator’s campaign has launched a radio spot there that features the state’s favorite son and longtime Obama supporter.

“I’ve seen a lot of small towns, but now I’m seeing small towns across America dying,” Mellencamp says in the ad. “Folks losing their jobs and their homes… eight years of George Bush have really hurt. And – John McCain is just more of the same.”

Click here to listen to the ad

Last week, the Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure unit announced that it was re-directing its advertising efforts to focus on traditionally Republican states including Indiana.

In CNN’s last Indiana poll released on October 7, 51 percent of likely voters supported Sen. John McCain and 46 percent backed Obama. Pres. Bush won the state by 21 points four years ago and Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Sen. McCain's new tv ad focuses on taxes and Sen. Obama's conservation with Joe Wurzelbacher.

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign trail encounter with Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher continues to play a prominent role in Sen. John McCain’s economic message during the final weeks of the race for the White House.

McCain’s new television ad, “Sweat Equity,” begins with footage of Obama’s exchange with Wurzelbacher, now known simply as “Joe the plumber,” followed by images of would-be voters declaring “I’m Joe the plumber.”

“I'm supposed to work harder... Just to pay more taxes. Obama wants my sweat to pay for his trillion dollars in new spending?,” the ad’s script also says.

The McCain campaign says the 30-second spot will air in “key states.” The ad follows up on a Web video launched last week that also features the Wurzelbacher exchange with Obama .

(full script of “Sweat Equity” after the jump)

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Sen. Obama's new tv ad attacks Sen. McCain's health care reform plan.

(CNN) – Barack Obama launched a new television ad Friday that echoes his latest campaign trail attack on John McCain’s health care proposal: that the Republican nominee’s plan would major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

“It Gets Worse,” a 30-second spot, follows up on a string of recent Obama ads about health care - all of which highlighted the tax implications of McCain’s plan.

The new ad suggests that, in addition to changing the historical tax treatment of employer-provided health care benefits, McCain’s plan would also involve significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, two of the federal governments largest entitlement programs. “Eight hundred and eighty-two billion from Medicare alone,” the ad says.

McCain-Palin spokesman Tucker Bounds called the charges, which Obama repeated on the trail Friday, “absurd”: “Unlike Barack Obama’s risky plan, John McCain’s plans for health care do not punish struggling businesses with fines and taxes, and they certainly do not cut a single benefit for Medicare or Medicaid – Obama is simply lying,” he said.

“It Gets Worse,” will air in “key states” across the country, according to the Obama campaign.

(Full script after the jump)

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HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) – John McCain accused Barack Obama of spending "more money on negative ads than any campaign in history" as the two men met for their final debate before the November 4 presidential election.

Watch: McCain, Obama debate negative campaigning

Obama responded that McCain's campaign had been running exclusively negative ads, and that the public found McCain to be running a more negative campaign than Obama.

The McCain campaign put out a press release moments after the exchange saying the Obama campaign had spent more than $42 million on negative ads in the past month, while their own campaign had spent only $27 million on them. The release cited CMAG, a media analysis group which does work for CNN among others.

The Obama campaign shot back with an article from the liberal blog Talking Points Memo, citing CMAG's Evan Tracey as saying "virtually 100 percent" of McCain's ads were negative, while only about half of Obama's ads were.

McCain challenged Obama to repudiate comments by his supporter, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, that compared the atmosphere at some Republican rallies to that of the segregationist George Wallace in the 1960s.

Obama said he had rejected the remark.

Watch CNN's Alina Cho fact check whether McCain's ads are all negative.

The Statement:

At a campaign stop Sunday, October 12, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, said, "A recent analysis showed - and this is literal - a recent analysis showed that 100 percent of the advertisements that the McCain campaign is now running - 100 percent - are
advertisements attacking, attacking Barack Obama."

Get the facts!

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A McCain ad calls Obama 'not presidential.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The race for the White House is being waged in the final weeks in American living rooms through a blitz of negative campaign commercials.

And though Sen. Barack Obama's campaign circulated a University of Wisconsin Advertising Project study earlier this week indicating all of Sen. John McCain's ads are negative compared to just 34 percent of Obama's, both campaigns are spending about equal amounts on attack ads.

An analysis of campaign commercials aired over the last seven days shows Obama outspent McCain nationwide by more than 2-1: $21.5 million vs. $9.2 million.

Watch: Negative ads dominate the campaign homestretch

But just under half of the money Obama is spending is going toward negative spots, meaning the Illinois senator is roughly keeping pace with his GOP rival when it comes to negative commercials, in terms of cash spent.

Check out CNN's Ad Spending Election Tracker

Campaign Media Analysis Group's Evan Tracey, CNN's consultant on campaign advertising, said Obama's cash advantage over McCain provides the Illinois senator with a luxury McCain cannot afford: the means to run both positive and negative TV spots.

"McCain is almost all negative because he needs to be," Tracey said, adding that McCain is "behind in the polls and outgunned."

Full story

Obama released a tough new response ad Friday.

Barack Obama’s campaign released a new ad late Friday in response to a hard-hitting spot from the Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure unit that focused on his relationships with Chicago figures like William Ayers and Bill Daley; the script follows. The campaign has not announced where the spot will be airing.

NARRATOR: John McCain admits if the election’s about the economy, he’s going to lose.

Now, as Americans lose their jobs and savings, McCain’s resorting to smears and false attacks

Barack Obama launched his first campaign here (a picture of a hotel flashes on screen), not in anyone’s living room

And Bill Daley? He was confirmed as Commerce Secretary and praised for his great work by none other than John McCain (a picture of the two men together appears.)

It’s clear, with no plan to fix our economy, smears are all McCain has left.

–

(Republicans have alleged that Obama launched his first campaign in Ayers’ living room – a charge the Illinois senator has denied.)

The RNC will begin airing a new ad Friday that mentions William Ayers.

(CNN) – Republican efforts to link Sen. Barack Obama to William Ayers, a member of a 1970’s anti-war terrorist group, will increase Friday when a new ad from the Republican National Committee hits the airwaves.

Related: Ayers, Obama crossed paths on boards, records show

“Chicago Way,” attempts to cast Obama as a stereotypical “shady” Chicago politician. Shot in black-and-white, the ad asserts “Obama’s first campaign was launched at a gathering at Mr. Ayers's home.”

The ad also mentions convicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko, a onetime prominent supporter of Obama’s, and William Daley, a national co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign who is also the brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the son of legendary Chicago political boss Richard J. Daley.

Related: Daley slams new McCain ad

“There’s more you need to know,” an announcer says as the ad ends.

The ad comes as the McCain campaign continues to carry out a more aggressive strategy of raising questions about Obama’s judgment and personal associations in the last month of the general election campaign. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recently said that Obama sees America as “so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country,” in an apparent reference to Ayers.

Related: Get the facts about Palin's charge

The Obama campaign has hit back hard accusing the McCain of trying to distract voters’ attention away from the many challenges the country is facing.

The RNC says "Chicago Way" will air in major media markets in Indiana and Wisconsin.