Political attack ads growing on Internet

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- While U.S. presidential elections are 22 months away, scathing attack ads on potential candidates are already appearing on the Internet.

In the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, filmmaker Robert Greenwald is busy on a campaign to cast doubt on Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's possible presidential aspirations, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Greenwald is producing 2-minute video clips for Internet distribution on the YouTube Web site in which he shows McCain in one clip saying same-sex marriage should be allowed, and in the second saying it should be illegal.

The newspaper said the YouTube site already contains attacks on such possible contenders in the presidential race as Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

In turn, some of the targets, including Clinton, Edwards, Obama and Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, have in turn made Web video statements for their campaign launches, the newspaper said.