DNC Ad: GOP Choosing Wall Street over Main Street

The Democratic National Committee has released a new television spot, "Risky Business," which it says will be broadcast to a national cable audience through next week. (See video at left)

The spot attacks Senate Republicans for blocking the pending financial reform legislation. It claims the GOP first caused the recession and is now standing in the way of a bill that will prevent a future economic collapse.

Suggesting there was a lack of oversight over the financial sector during the Bush administration, a narrator in the ad claims that "Republicans stood by as Wall Street ran wild."

"Now they are standing with the big banks again," the narrator continues.

The campaign seeks to paint GOP lawmakers as more allied with large financial institutions than with the average consumer.

"Republicans voted to block reform after a fundraiser with Wall Street lobbyists," the ad claims.

Lawmakers from both parties, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have held fundraisers and meetings with Wall Street executives. And while the 12 largest financial firms have given slightly more to Republicans than Democrats so far this year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, the biggest financial firms have generally been giving more to Democrats than Republicans since 2004.

The launch of the ad comes two days into a political impasse over the Wall Street reform bill. All 41 Republican Senators and Centrist Democratic Senator Ben Nelson have now voted twice to block debate on the legislation.

Though Republicans have stood firm in their opposition to the Democrat-sponsored bill, many acknowledge that a prolonged impasse could have dire political consequences.

Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) both conceded to Politico that they will soon have to agree to open the debate and amendment process.

"To maintain credibility, we have to get a bill or get to work on a bill," Chambliss said.

Not to be left behind in the political jockeying, the Republican National Committee also unveiled a new video today, a web ad called "Mr. Obama's Wild Ride." (See video at left)

The video attacks the president over the unemployment rate and features a cartoon caricature of President Obama driving his car on a "job LESS" tour all across the country. (Mr. Obama is in Missouri today delivering remarks on the economy.)

The spot claims that the Obama-backed health care reform plan has contributed to slow recovery in Midwestern states as well as major losses for American companies like Caterpillar and John Deere.

It also paints the president as a reckless spender: "He's filled his tank with your tax dollars and flooring it until it runs on empty."