If you don't live in one of this year's dozen or so swing states (like most of the rest of the electorate), chances are you've encountered Barack Obama and John McCain mainly through the television screen--or, more specifically, through their combined $11 million investment in ads airing nationally during NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics. In which case, all you're seeing of Obama is his dream of "putt[ing] the middle class ahead of corporate interests" and his desire to "create five million jobs [by] developing home-grown energy technologies." And all you're seeing of McCain is... well, not much. The majority of McCain's record-setting $6 million ad buy went into airing "Painful," an ad mocking Obama's "life in the spotlight" while claiming that "the real Obama" is "not ready to lead." Given that Team McCain has spent much of the summer seeking free media exposure with limited-release spots comparing Obama to Paris Hilton--and releasing attack ads riddled with inaccuracies-- you'd think that only the Arizona senator has indulged in negative messaging, leaving his opponent from Illinois to travel the high road all by his lonesome.

You'd be wrong. As the New York Times reported this morning, Obama "has started a sustained and hard-hitting advertising campaign against Senator John McCain in states that will be vital this fall, painting Mr. McCain in a series of commercials as disconnected from the economic struggles of the middle class." So why haven't you heard anything about them? Because unlike a traditional campaign, Team Obama has "begun the drive with little fanfare, often eschewing the modern campaign technique of unveiling new spots for the news media before they run in an effort to win added (free) attention." The point, of course, is to preserve the perception that Obama is a "new kind of politician" on national level while still scoring "old politics"-style points against his rival in the places it matters most. According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, for example, Obama’s campaign spent nearly $400,000 Sunday to run two anti-McCain spots more than 600 times, accounting for roughly two thirds of his commercials for the day--a number that didn't quite match McCain's 85-percent negative rating over the same period, but came closer than most casual voters would expect. “If you can go quietly negative, that’s what he’s done,” CMAG president Evan Tracey told the Times. “I think the perception is that he’s still running the positive campaign. It’s a pretty smart, high-low, good cop/bad cop strategy."

In the past--as recently as 2004, even--it would've pretty difficult for a voter in, say, Brooklyn to get any sense of what was airing in Dayton. But now we have YouTube. Scouring the site, I've compiled a playlist of all the videos in Obama's quiet, ongoing anti-McCain onslaught--for your non-swing-state viewing pleasure. This isn't to suggest that Obama is going "more negative" than McCain (he's not, especially because most of his focus on "the issues"), or even that his "high-low" strategy is somehow unwise (frankly, attack ads work--and I can imagine many Democrats are pleased to see their man finally "hitting back.") But the fact remains that before Aug. 4, Obama's only "negative" ads bemoaned McCain's "low-road campaign" and came in direct response to Republican swipes; since then, he's unleashed 11* nine--by my count, at least--unprompted anti-McCain spots (some of which are misleading, according to Factcheck.org). That's a change worth noting.

Broadcast information and/or factcheck.org analysis included where available:

1. "Never" (Atlanta)
"Draw[s] a connection between Republican John McCain's decision not to call Ralph Reed before a Senate panel and Reed's involvement in an Atlanta fund-raiser this week." (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

2. "Three Times"
Calls McCain's tax plan "more of the same."

3. "Punch" (Ohio)
"Spotlights John McCain's role in helping pave the way for foreign-owned DHL to take over an American shipping company and put more than 8,200 jobs at risk in Wilmington, Ohio." (Obama campaign)

Factcheck.org: "Ads from the AFL-CIO and the Obama campaign claim that McCain is partly to blame for the loss of more than 8,000 jobs in Ohio. They paint a false picture." 

4. "Fix the Economy" (Philadelphia; East Lansing, Mich.; Green Bay, Wis.; and at least five other major cities)
Asks "How can John McCain fix the economy when he doesn't think it's broken?"

Factcheck.org: "An Obama ad uses dated and out of context quotes to portray McCain as clueless on the economy. " 

5. "Book" (Des Moines; Tampa, Fla.; Paducah, Ky., and at least 10 other cities)
"Return[s] to the core of McCain's weakness: the economy, and Bush. The ad also constructs a narrative that, in a sense, accuses the Iraqis of bilking Americans with high oil prices." (Ben Smith)

6. "Embrace"
"Addresses the numerous ways in which the special interests in Washington have embraced John McCain and how McCain has hugged right back, employing lobbyists in top positions and giving tax breaks to oil and drug companies, instead of working to ease the burden on middle-class families." (Obama campaign)

7. "Backyard" (Nevada)
"Highlights John McCain's continued support for storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, despite scientific evidence that raises serious questions about its safety." (Obama campaign)

8. "Original"
Asks whether McCain is "the original maverick"--or just "more of the same"

Factcheck.org: "McCain is not proposing new tax breaks specifically targeted to the oil industry. He's proposing a general reduction in the corporate income tax rate, which Democrats figure would benefit the five largest oil and gas companies by $3.8 billion."

9. "Pocket"
Says McCain's campaign got $2 million from "Big Oil" while proposing "another $4 billion in tax breaks" for the industry.

Factcheck.org: "The truth is that McCain's campaign has received $1.33 million from individuals employed in the oil and gas industry, not $2 million. Obama himself has received nearly $400,000, according to the most authoritative figures available. We find the $2 million figure is based on a mistaken calculation."

*UPDATE,  Aug. 21: Two more...

10. "Better Off"
"A remix of Obama's man-on-the-street ad, which features Midwesterners challenging cheery McCain words on the economy, directs viewers to a new website: JohnMcCainRecord.com, which features a YouTube video of McCain talking about the economy at greater length, and stumblingly, during a debate as Mitt Romney looks a bit pained, and finally concluding that the country is 'better off,' though things are tough." (Ben Smith)

11. "Dangerous" (Nevada)
"Another localized negative spot, and Obama's second in Nevada, this one featuring ordinary Nevadans talking about the nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, which Obama opposes and McCain favors." (Ben Smith)