Obama accuses McCain of falling under big oil companies in new ad

In a bid to tap into American consumers frustration over escalating gas prices, Obama called for US emergency oil reserves to be used to help drive down fuel prices.

"We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks," Obama said in remarks prepared for a speech he was about to deliver in Lansing, Michigan.

The Illinois senator said tapping the SPR was one of the short-term steps that could be taken to ease the energy problem but said even more important were long-term measures, such as the development of alternative fuels.

Meanwhile, the "Pocket" TV ad opens with a shot of a driver pumping gas and refers to huge profits made by oil companies in the past year.

View ad below:

"Every time you fill your tank, the oil companies fill their pockets," a narrator says.

"Now Big Oil's filling John McCain's campaign with $2 million in contributions."

The ad displays McCain standing next to fellow Republican President George W. Bush as the narrator says, "After one president in the pocket of big oil - we can't afford another."

The ad mentions Obama's plan to offer American families $1,000 tax breaks to help offset higher energy costs as well as the senator's proposal for a tax on windfall oil company profits. It also accuses McCain of wanting to give oil companies additional tax breaks.

The McCain campaign responded by saying the ad was misleading and failed to mention that the Republican candidate voted against a 2005 bill that provided billions in tax breaks for energy producers, including oil companies aimed at offering incentives for domestic energy production.

"Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement.

"Also not mentioned is the $400,000 from big oil contributors that Barack Obama has already pocketed in this election," Bounds said.

The ad is in rotation in the 18 states where Obama is already running ads.