Two ads hit hard on McCain/Palin

First up -- Nurses union goes after McCain's health - 'One Heartbeat Away.'

You can't say this McCain flatliner ad by the 85,000-member National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association doesn't go right to the point:

The nation's largest union of registered nurses this morning unveiled a striking new television ad that calls attention to one of the most significant, and least talked about, issues in the current election campaign the possible presidency of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

I'm sure the McCain campaign will cry foul at the bluntness. It will run in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri.

Below the fold, an environmental group exposes Palin's brutal promotion of aerial wolf 'hunting'. The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, a pro-environment advocacy group, documents the kind of governor Sarah Palin is -- the facilitator of the aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska. This is definitely one of the most devastating ads run so far -- warning, this video shows graphic killing and dead wolves.

The program licenses private citizens to fly airplanes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then sell the pelts of the animals they kill for profit. The program also targets grizzly and black bears.

...Her promotion of this ghastly and unscientific program - which she pursues while simultaneously suing the federal government to eliminate protections for the imperiled polar bear - offers voters a glimpse of her values and character that is quite different from the picture carefully crafted by the McCain-Palin campaign's professional speechwriters. It should also provide voters with a good idea of what a McCain-Palin administration's approach to stewardship of our nation's natural resources would be like. Americans deserve to know about this real side of Sarah Palin before they make up their minds about her.

Narrator: The more voters learn about Sarah Palin, the less there is to like. As Alaska governor, Sarah Palin actively promotes the brutal and unethical aerial hunting of wolves and other wildlife.

On screen text: Palin promotes brutal aerial hunting of wildlife

Narrator: Using a low-flying plane, they kill in winter, when there is no way to escape.

Riddled with gunshots, biting at their backs in agony, they die a brutal death.

And Palin even encouraged the cruelty by proposing a $150 bounty for the severed foreleg of each killed wolf.

On screen: Encouraged cruelty with $150 bounty for severed foreleg

Narrator: And then introduced a bill to make the killing easier.

On screen: Introduced bill to make killing easier

Narrator: Do we really want a vice president who champions such savagery?

On screen: Do we really want a vice president who champions such savagery?

Narrator: Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising.

As a proud pro-gun, moose hunting candidate, it would be nice to know why Palin thinks it is OK to pick off wolves from the air, and why she lobbied for a $150 bounty for the severed foreleg of each killed wolf? Perhaps people in states that need to control wolf populations can explain to the rest of us why on earth is there any need to engage in this particular kind of activity? This isn't hunting.

The ad is currently airing in Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Northern Virginia, and it will air shortly in Colorado and Missouri. Sam Stein of Huff Post reports that "unlike many presidential campaign ads this cycle, the claims made in the Defenders spot are virtually all true, albeit with some caveats, according to FactCheck.org."