Barack Obama’s latest ad takes advantage of Sarah Palin’s low favorability ratings and lingering reputation as something of a policy ditz to rap McCain for her selection as VP. 

The spot, titled “His Choice,” features only words on a screen and no narration — pointing out that McCain himself said he’d look to his vice president for advice on the economy, then showing Palin winking at the camera during her debate with Obama’s own choice, Joe Biden. 

The ad closes with a picture of the Democratic ticket together on stage in Springfield, IL - making the contrast even clearer.

SUFFOLK, VA - The Obama campaign is kicking off the final ten days of what’s been a bitter ad war between the two candidates with a 2 minute spot outlining the Illinois Senator’s plan to fix the economy.

In the ad, called “Defining Moment,” Obama seeks to move beyond the question of “are you better off than you were four years ago?” to “will our country be better off four years from now?” Speaking directly to the camera, Senator Obama outlines his agenda to “lift our economy and restore America’s place in the world.”

In Suffolk, Obama’s running mate Joe Biden said the ad runs in distinct contrast to McCain’s strategy of attack, attack, attack.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Barack is going up with a two-minute ad starting tomorrow, the rest of this campaign,” he said. “You know how we’re finishing out the campaign? Barack is going up, instead of anything negative, we’re going up and laying out our plan to fix the economy. That’s what we’re running on.”

“What does the McCain campaign continue to do? They want to do anything but talk about the economy.”

It was only a matter of time. The McCain campaign has released a TV ad using Joe Biden’s claim at a private Seattle fundraiser that, if elected, Barack Obama will be tested by an international crisis in the first 6 months of his presidency.

Titled “Ladies and Gentlemen” - a phrase Biden utters countless times in every speech - the ad features horror movie-style music under images of Hamas soldiers, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A narrator starts the add by saying “listen to Joe Biden talking about what electing Barack Obama will mean,” before the heavily edited Biden quote begins. “Mark my words. it will not be 6 months before the world tests Barack Obama. The world is looking. We’re going to have an international crisis to test the mettle of this guy. I guarantee you it’s going to happen,” Biden says.

“It doesn’t have to happen,” the narrator solemnly intones. “Vote McCain.”

McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin have been attacking Obama using the Delaware Senator’s remarks - arguing that even his own VP nominee thinks Obama is too weak to pass the international test. In fact, Biden actually said Obama has the strength to stand up to such a crisis.

In a press release, the McCain campaign says “because of Barack Obama’s inexperience, Joe Biden has guaranteed the American people that the world will test Barack Obama within the first six months of being elected. If Barack Obama’s vote against the surge and response to the Russia-Georgia crisis are any indication, Americans can’t afford to see if he passes the test or not.”

The campaign says the ad will be televised in “key states.”

Obama has been forced to explain the remarks, but Biden has never addressed them himself beyond a paper statement from his campaign spokesperson. A campaign aide says that while McCain is attacking Biden on a daily basis over the comments, they feel no need to respond directly — since they’re confident the tactic isn’t working.

Greeley, CO -- AP Photo

GREELEY, CO — Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden says if John McCain’s truly serious about making this election about the economy, he should stop running ads and phone calls attacking Barack Obama’s character.

McCain told Harry Smith on CBS this morning that while advisers and pundits have said he can’t win if the election comes down to the current economic crisis, that’s not what he believes.

“That’s simply not true… We’ve been focusing on the economy,” said the Arizona Senator in the interview. “Listen to me, I’m the candidate. And this - this campaign is about the economy.”

Biden said if that’s true, McCain should change his campaign tactics. “You’ve heard a lot of scurrilous ads and phone calls lately, made – which lie about Barack Obama and also raise unfair questions about his character,” Biden told the crowd of nearly 4,000. “I say to my friend John McCain, if he’s really serious when he said this morning on one of the shows that this election is all about the economy, then I say, John, stop your ads. Bring down those robo calls.

“If it’s about the economy, argue about the economy. Not about Barack Obama’s character. Not about these scurrilous ads,” he shouted to applause. “”John, stop these calls!”

It’s not just about politics, according to Biden — it’s about bringing a divided country together. “A lot of Democrats are angry,” he said. “Folks, if, God willing, we win this, when we win, we have to reach out. We have to isolate those extremes. We have to reach out to Democrats and Republicans and Independents…we have to unite this nation.”

DENVER, CO-

McPalin released a new tv ad Friday, hitting Obama on character, and tax cuts.

GREENSBORO, NC — The McCain campaign’s latest ad features a familiar voice in the role of Obama critic — Obama’s own VP nominee, Joe Biden.

The :30 spot, called “Promise,” shows Biden at the Iowa State Fair and on Meet the Press during his own failed presidential run, ripping Obama for voting against funding US troops in Iraq.

“They said they voted against the money to make a political point,” Biden says in the ad. “This is cutting off support that will save the lives of thousands of American troops.”

The narrator adds “Barack Obama. Playing politics. Risking lives. Not ready to lead.

McCain criticized Obama for that vote in last night’s debate. Obama said he’d voted against the funding bill because it did not contain a timeline for withdrawing US troops from Iraq.

The Obama campaign wouldn’t address Biden’s appearance in the ad, but attacked its substance. “Despite what his increasingly desperate and dishnorable campaign says, John McCain opposed funding for our troops that would have brought them home, while Barck Obama voted against a blank check for George Bush,” spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.

“If John McCain wants to talk about funding, he should explain why he voted against life-saving equipment for our tropops in battle, voted repeatedly against funding for veterans health care, and wants to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqis have a surplus and our economy is in crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC — Another case of Joe being Joe.

The Delaware Senator took issue with an attack ad from his own side in an interview with CBS, telling Katie Couric that the Obama hit on McCain’s ignorance of computers and technology was “terrible.” The ad paints McCain as out of touch — and all but calls him ancient — but doesn’t mention that the Arizona Senator’s war injuries actually prevent him from using computers for an extended period.

Asked whether he’s disappointed with the tone of the campaign, including the ad that Couric characterized as “making fun of John McCain’s inability to use a computer,” Biden said “I thought that was terrible by the way.

“I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it”

But Biden said he didn’t think there was anything intentionally personal in the ad — and argued that it doesn’t sink to the level the McCain ad accusing Obama of voting to teach kindergarteners about sex. The Obama campaign says the bill would help children avoid predators. “Very different in degree,” Biden said.

Still, the McCain campaign pounced on the VP nominee’s comments.

“While the New York Times and other media outlets were silent in the face of Barack Obama’s shameless and dishonorable attack on John Mccain, even Obama’s own running mate has now condemned the ad as terrible,” said spokesman Brian Rogers in a statement. “Barack Obama has brought the sleazy gutter politics of Chicago to our national stage, exposing his call for a ‘new politics’ as a lie and embarrassing even his own running mate with the low road campaign he’s running.”

But as the moment went viral, hitting the internet traffic engine the Drudge Report, Biden revised and extended his remarks in a statement — saying he hadn’t even seen it when he condemned it.

“Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Sen McCain’s ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize,” he said, “especially when they continue to distort Barack’s votes on an issue as personal as keeping kids safe from sexual predators.”

The interview, which aired on Monday, was filmed in Ohio on Thursday.

STERLING, VA — The rise of YouTube and the need for cable news station to fill programming hours has led to a proliferation of internet-only ads on both sides of the aisle — videos usually designed to drive a particular attack but, unlike regular ads, never put on television.

It’s an attempt to get free media attention — and to get cable news stations to debate the merits of the attack, thereby distributing it more widely into the political bloodstream without spending a dime on actual airtime.

The McCain camp has had some doozies this cycle, most notably an ad mockingly comparing Barack Obama to Moses from “The Ten Commandments.” This morning, they turned their sites on Joe Biden — hoping to keep his claim that wealthy Americans who’ll see their taxes raised under an Obama administration should be willing to pay more out of a sense of patriotism.

The ad is clever, but don’t expect to see it on TV any time soon. Besides the fact that keeping it online saves money, campaigns don’t want too many negative spots where most voters can see them — hoping to avoid backlash that can come with the perception of excessive negativity.

JACKSONVILLE, FL — As Wall Street copes with the failures of the financial market, Sen. McCain argued Monday that the government should not offer further bail outs as he vowed to bring increased accountability to Wall Street.

“The McCain-Palin administration will replace the outdated patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street, we will bring transparency and accountability and we will reform the regulatory bodies of government,” McCain said at a 2,500 person event, his first solo rally since announcing Palin as his VP. “We’ve got to be focused on ensuring the deposits of hardworking Americans are protected and the taxpayers not involved. The taxpayers have already been hurt by the unexpected events of Bear Stearns and the sadly predictable collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We believe the time has come and gone where the taxpayers should be viewed as the solution to the problems that are not of their making and there is too much debt.”

In a new TV ad “Crisis,” launched today (above), the campaign argues that “only proven reformers John McCain and Sarah Palin can fix” the economy. A narrator says the GOP ticket will bring “tougher rules on Wall Street to protect your life savings” and promises “no special interest giveaways” as a photo of the Lehman Brothers headquarters is flashed on the screen.

While McCain noted that the market is going through “tremendous turmoil,” he maintained Monday that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong,” drawing a rebuke from the Obama campaign.

“Today of all days, John McCain’s stubborn insistence that the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong’ shows that he is disturbingly out of touch with what’s going in the lives of ordinary Americans,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “Even as his own ads try to convince him that the economy is in crisis, apparently his 26 years in Washington have left him incapable of understanding that the policies he supports have created an historic economic crisis.”

As Hillary Clinton prepares a convention speech aimed at winning over supporters who still refuse to back Barack Obama, the McCain campaign compiles some of her greatest hits against her former rival in an ad that suggests she was “passed over” for the VP slot because Obama couldn’t take the heat.

The McCain camp says the ad - which includes some of her toughest criticism of Obama but leaves out my personal favorite — will air in key battleground states.