


For the first 5 1/2 weeks of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary campaign, candidates ran ads with positive messages. Then 12 days ago Clinton tiptoed into attack mode with a radio spot hitting Obama on oil industry contributions and energy policy.
Clinton followed with a TV ad, Obama responded, and now both campaigns are finishing the campaign with negative spots and mutual accusations of unfair and misleading attacks.
And an organization of Clinton supporters that's allowed to raise money in amounts exceeding legal limits for the candidates themselves has spent $428,000 on the Pennsylvania race.
The American Leadership Project, registered to a San Francisco address in February, takes advantage of a seam in election law to raise money in large amounts for advertising that in this case mentions candidates by name, but doesn't expressly advocate a vote.
An ALP ad that aired in recent days attacked Obama's health-care plan and praised Clinton. Obama then responded with an ad attacking Clinton's plan, which the Clinton campaign responded to with another ad attacking Obama's plan.
The largest contributors to the ALP are the public employee union AFSCME, which gave $200,000, and the machinists union, which contributed $100,000.
The group's ad ends with a phone number, urging viewers to "call Barack Obama and tell him to support health care for all Americans."
(philly.com)