Dueling ads on big oil and lobbyists

Barack Obama's campaign started a new TV ad in Pennsylvania today to combat Hillary Clinton's arguments that he supported tax breaks for big oil.

"Across Pennsylvania families are struggling," the narrator says. "What’s Hillary Clinton’s answer? The same old politics, misleading negative ads. The truth? It’s Barack Obama who’s taken on the oil companies, worked to strip away their tax breaks as they run up record profits, and demanded higher gas mileage standards. And Obama’s the only candidate who doesn’t take a dime from oil company PACs or lobbyists. And that’s change we can believe in."

Clinton's spot says that Obama has taken money from oil company representatives and highlights her plan to use the money from oil company tax breaks to fund alternative energy.

With gas prices at record highs, the issue is gaining attention in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Both Democrats have pledged to take the tax breaks away from oil companies if they're elected president, but are jockeying over who is more in tune with blue-collar voters. On Tuesday, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain called for a "tax holiday" this summer to lower prices at the pump by suspending the 18.4-cent federal gasoline levy.