Massachusetts: Earl Sholley

Barney Frank's new ad for his re-election campaign is sure to turn heads.

The ad, the first of two ads Frank is running, features vintage footage of elephants as a deep-voiced narrator heaps blame on Republicans for their role in the current financial crisis.

WELLESLEY - Congressman Barney Frank and his opponents laid out very different plans for how to reduce the nation's growing budget deficit at a debate here Sunday.

Frank, a Newton Democrat, suggested five principles for reigning in spending. First, he said he "would begin by pulling out of that miserable, mistaken war in Iraq." The war, he said, has cost the country $600 billion. Frank also said he would reduce military spending.

WELLESLEY - Congressman Barney Frank and Republican challenger Earl Sholley traded a somewhat testy exchange here Sunday over gay marriage.

Frank, Sholley and Susan Allen, another challenger of Frank's, traded blows in an hour-long debate at Wellesley College. In one of the final questions posed by the moderator, the candidates were asked for their position on gay marriage and if judges should have the authority to determine whether gay marriage should be legal.