NEW YORK, NY October 23, 2008 —Residents in several swing states are picking up the phone and finding a recording of Rudy Giuliani on the line. The former mayor is calling on behalf of the Republican National Committee and the McCain-Palin campaign.

GIULIANI: Barack Obama opposes mandatory prison sentences for sex offenders, drug dealers and murderers. It’s true. I read Obama's words myself.

REPORTER: Obama, in a 2003 statement, said he wanted to abolish “mandatory minimums” that dictate what sentences federal judges can impose. He later said he wanted to ban the rigid guidelines for first-time convictions for crack cocaine possession, and reform the broader network of mandatory minimum penalties for more than 170 federal felonies.

So-called "robo-calls" by the McCain campaign have been a point of contention among Republicans. Four GOP senators in tight races have asked the campaign not to run calls in their states attempting to link Obama to 1960s radical William Ayers.