What are the most viewed campaign ads?

>>> mitt romney is going on an ad spending spree. pro romney plan is going to flood swing states . they'll spend more in october than they did in september. today both sides are out with new ads focusing on the economy.

>> we have a whole new shift. we have a future.

>> when you look at the president's plan, i don't think there can be any question that we're on the right course.

>> president obama does get what people need, and that's jobs and the opportunity to help themselves.

>> the economy is barely limping along. don't raise taxes on small businesses because they're our job problems and fix problems. mitt romney is uniquely qualified to fix these problems.

>> i'm joined by bob man, chair of mass communications at louisiana university. good to see you.

>> good morning, chris.

>> let's talk about the obama campaign ad we just played. real people talking about what they see as a real recovery. what's the impact, do you think?

>> well, i think that ad is aimed at a lot of voters who were somewhat shaken somewhat by obama 's performance in the first debate and it's trying to shore up -- at least to me it's aimed at people that were a little concerned about obama . shoring them up, trying to reassure them that obama is on the right track. i'm impressed by that tag line at the end, forward. i think that implies that if you go with the other guy, you're moving backwards. we don't want to go there.

>> "jansing & co." just got a list of the top ads from the past week from visible measures. number two on their list with more than a million views is an rnc ad featuring a laughing joe biden . let me play that.

>> it's never too early to speak out for our values. they keep misquoting him but let me tell you about the mitt romney i know. don't raise taxes on the small businesses because they're our job creators.

>> is that effective?

>> well, i think it's aimed at perhaps more the republican base than swing voters . i think the difference between those obama ads that i've seen that are airing today, they're aimed more to me at swing voters . these ads are aimed more at trying to zero in on biden 's demeanor and trying to make people believe that the obama administration wasn't serious about the debate and is not serious about deficit reduction. i'm not sure how effective they are. i really think if they want to attack obama , they want to attack obama and not biden . i don't think biden 's performance is going to be what determines the outcome of this election.

>> over the weekend they had an ad featuring actor morgan free man. let me play that.

>> every president inherits challenges. few have faced so many. four years later our enemies have been brought to justice, our heroes are coming home, assembly lines are humming again. the last thing we should do is turn back now.

>> here's my take on that ad. see if we're on the same page here. i saw it and i thought, you know, there's so many ads out there. my family and friends who live in battleground states are done, frankly, with them, but when i hear morgan freeman 's voice, i stop and listen. i don't know how much star value, you know, really works, if george clooney endorses you, but does an ad like that have power?

>> i think it does. that is one of the best ads i've seen from the obama campaign in this election. not only does it have morgan freeman which i do think calls you to look up and listen, but i think that ad is very reminisce reminisce reminiscent. it's reagan's morning in america. it sets up voters that this president has faced challenges. it says the same words that morning in america did. why do we want to turn back now.

>> let me bring up now ad number one of the past week. it is the obama campaign 's big bird spot which visible measures says has been seen by nearly 4 million people. take a watch.

>> big bird . big bird . big bird .

>> it's me, big bird .

>> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. mitt romney knows it's not wall street you have to worry about, it's sesame street .

>> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs.

>> mitt romney picking on our enemies no matter where they nest.

>> now the romney campaign has tried to turn that. over the weekend mitt romney took a jab at the president over that ad.

>> his campaign keeps getting smaller and smaller as he talks about big bird and so forth and our crowds keep getting bigger and bigger.

>> so my question is, could this really persuade people to vote for the president or do most people watch it because, frankly, it's entertaining?

>> i think -- i don't think they think they're going to persuade a lot of people with that ad. i don't think they put a lot of money behind it. it's been seen a lot on the web and they aired it on s"saturday night live" on this last saturday. they see it as a way to gig mitt romney .

>> bobman from lsu. great to see. you thanks very much.