Paul TV ad to attack Perry during debate
Republican Rep. Ron Paul will run a television ad, "Trust," nationwide Wednesday night while he and seven other presidential candidates are debating on MSNBC, his campaign said. Its theme: he's the real conservative, and Gov. Rick Perry, a fellow Texan, is a poser who supported Al Gore.
Paul TV ad to attack Perry during debate
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
Republican Rep. Ron Paul will run a television ad, "Trust," nationwide Wednesday night while he and seven other presidential candidates are debating on MSNBC, his campaign says.
Theme: Paul, a liberatarian, is a real conservative, while Gov. Rick Perry, a fellow Texan, is a poser who supported Al Gore.
“Other candidates are parroting Dr. Paul's principles in their rhetoric, but their records prove they cannot be trusted to live up to their words," said Jesse Benton, chairman of the Paul campaign, in a statement.
The ad equates Paul with the sainted Ronald Reagan, noting that the Gipper had been dismissed as "too extreme" to be elected president. Paul receives the same treatment from much of the Republican establishment and media pundits, who discount his strong showing in polls as a function of an intense libertarian following and argue he could not win in November 2012.
The debate is being held at Reagan's presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Paul ran the same ad in Iowa and New Hampshire on Tuesday, kicking off a spat between his campaign and Perry's.
Noting that Perry, as a Democratic state legislator in Texas, supported early presidential campaigns of Ron Paul, the ad says, "Al Gore found a cheerleader in Texas named Rick Perry. Rick Perry helped lead Al Gore's campaign to undo the Reagan revolution." (Perry was a cheerleader at Texas A&M.)
Perry's campaign countered by citing a letter that Paul wrote in 1987 "resigning" from the GOP. "Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing deficits and astoundingly a doubled national debt," Paul wrote. (He was the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in 1988.)
Perry used the very stimulus funds he railed against to help plug his state's $6+ billion dollar deficit. He's a hypocrite just like the rest of them on the right.— taxmanndumbeth- Excellent ad and when he doesn't get the Republican nomination, I hope he gets the Libertarian nomination so I can vote for him.— pajamas
- Nobody predicted Obama would capture his party's nomination this far out from election day either.— adman
- Ron Paul is my choice for president.— AbeVigoda
- This is going to be the Republican candidates' theme right up until nomination night, right? "He/She isn't conservative enough"? Neither was Reagan, probably, by today's standards.— 1980
Too bad nobody listened to Ron Paul back in 1987. How many times has the national debt doubled since Reagan left office in 1989?- Look to the handle. Let's get it done people.— Ron Paul 2012
- Ron Paul 2012!!— USAFirst1
- The only anti-war candidate in either party.— Tom18
- The right hates anyone "anti-war" because they love war. It coincides with their religious beliefs.— taxmanndumbeth
- Paul is the only one I would vote for.— oakster
- The parade of buffoons finally starts turning on themselves. Paul, however, is perhaps worse than Perry, Bachmann, etc.: because he doesn't like war doesn't make him a visionary. His solution for all of the problems we face today? Suffer.— Krilt
- The parade of buffoons finally starts turning on themselves. Paul, however, is perhaps worse than Perry, Bachmann, etc.: because he doesn't like war doesn't make him a visionary. His solution for all of the problems we face today? Suffer.— Krilt
- People like Jim Hightower have done a much better job laying out Perry's career. Paul's love of Reagan and Perry's former support for Gore hardly constitute a reason to vote for Paul.— armchairGM
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
