The Obama campaign today responded to direct mail ads from the McCain campaign that have reportedly gone out to rural Mainers.

The ads -- which feature Todd Palin, husband of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee -- aim to strike up fears that Democrat Barack Obama wouldn't be friendly to rural Mainers who enjoy snowmobiling.

"Mainers trying to fill up their snowmobile tanks and heat their homes this winter will find a hole burned into their pockets after eight years of failed Bush-McCain energy policies," said Jessica Santillo, Maine communications director for Obama. "Obama will deliver immediate relief for working families through a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate and smart energy policy, while McCain will give $4 billion more in tax breaks for oil companies. Mainers need change, not more of the same."

Mark Ellis, chairman of the Maine Republican Party, said the Obama campaign was engaging in "linguistic sleight of hand."

"It is indicative of the lengths Barack Obama will go to deny his own record when he references in his defense a Bush-Cheney energy bill packed with giveaways to oil companies that he voted for and John McCain opposed," Ellis said. "Obama's linguistic sleight of hand cannot change the fact that the mailer is 100 percent truthful. The Obama campaign is upset that voters are learning the truth."