WASHINGTON — Republican political operative Karl Rove yesterday faulted both presidential campaigns for the increasingly negative tone of their advertising, suggesting the attacks undermine Sen. John McCain's and Sen. Barack Obama's credibility with voters.

"Both campaigns are making a mistake, and that is they are taking whatever their attacks are and going one step too far," said former White House political adviser Karl Rove. "They don't need to attack each other in this way."

In a statement, the Obama campaign said it partly agreed with Rove.

"In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove — the man who held the previous record — said McCain's ads have gone too far," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

In the past week, the McCain campaign has put out an Internet ad accusing Obama of calling Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin a pig when he used the phrase putting "lipstick on a pig" to criticize the GOP ticket as trying to make a bad situation look better. McCain and his supporters said Obama was alluding to Palin's description of herself as a pit bull in lipstick, but there was nothing in his remarks to support that claim.

The McCain campaign also produced an ad saying Obama favored "comprehensive sex education" for kindergartners.

But as an Illinois state senator, Obama voted for legislation that would teach age-appropriate sex education to kindergartners, including information on rejecting advances by sexual predators.

In turn, a recent Obama TV ad makes a dig at McCain's age in saying McCain hasn't changed in the past 26 years. It shows McCain at a hearing in the early 1980s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit.

"He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors $200 billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," the commercial says.

Rove said he believed that Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment was a "deliberate slap at Gov. Palin," saying it came too soon after the Alaska governor's pit-bull comment not to be. Rove also said while it might be fair to criticize McCain for being a longtime Washington insider, faulting McCain for not using a computer when he can't type due to war injuries is not.

"McCain has gone in some of his ads — similarly gone one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test," Rove said, without elaborating.

Rove spoke on "Fox News Sunday."