Spots Hit Obama On Born Alive, McCain On Lobbyists

There are two new attack spots from third party groups out today. The first, from 527 political organization BornAliveTruth.org, features Gianna Jessen, who says in the spot that she survived a failed abortion attempt 31 years ago.

"Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights no matter how they entered our world?" Jessen asks in the ad as photographs of babies appear onscreen.

"If Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here," she continues. "Four times Barack Obama voted to oppose a law to protect babies left to die after failed abortions. Senator Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I'm living proof these babies have a right to live."

The New York Times explored the (rather complex) debate over Obama's position on "born alive" last month. In 2003, while an Illinois state senator, Obama led efforts to defeat the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which concerned fetuses that survive botched abortions. A similar, federal version of the "born alive" law passed in Congress in 2002. Obama says he would have supported the federal version of the bill, even though he opposed the state version: The difference, he said, was that the state version also included language that could have undermined Roe. v. Wade. Obama's critics dispute that characterization, however.

The $350,000 spot from BornAliveTruth.org began airing today in Ohio and New Mexico. Watch it below:

Today's other third party spot comes from the liberal group MoveOn.org Political Action, which is spending $200,000 to run a spot called "My Friends" on national cable and in battleground states. "My Friends" suggests that McCain's real friends aren't American voters but Washington lobbyists with tied to his campaign.

The spot opens with video of McCain saying "my friends" over and over.

"When John McCain says [my friends], you know who he's talking about?" asks an announcer. "The 177 lobbyists who have ties to his campaign." Photographs of McCain advisor and lobbyist Charlie Black, McCain national finance co-chair and lobbyist Wayne Berman, and other McCain-tied lobbyists fill the screen.

"More than a dozen lobbied for oil companies," the announcer continues. "McCain got more than 2 million dollars from Big Oil. And he didn't support the measures we need to get cleaner, cheaper fuel. So when it comes to gas prices, John McCain won't be taking care of you, he'll be taking care of …" (Here, McCain is again shown repeatedly saying "my friends.")

"John McCain: He's No Friend Of Yours," the spot concludes.

The Republican National Committee responded to the ad with this statement from spokesman Alex Conant: "Barack Obama has 'friends' of his own, including unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers who helped launch his political career, convicted felon Tony Rezko who helped purchase his home, and his campaign's chief strategist who at one point had the biggest lobby contract in New York state history. As Obama's star starts to fade, his special-interest friends are responding to his campaign's pleas for help."

You can read more about third party ads now hitting the airwaves here.