The race for the Republican presidential nomination is heating up -- and so are the attacks. On Tuesday, two of the candidates -- former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas -- took aim at the front-runners, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.
With the Republican presidential candidates squaring off in a debate in California on Wednesday, the attack ads set the stage for what could be an acrimonious month. The Republican candidates will meet in Florida later in September -- at a debate held by the Tea Party Express and CNN in Tampa on the 12th and at the Republican Party of Floridas Presidency 5 event in Orlando on the 22nd.
Huntsman, who is lagging in the polls and looking to carve into Romneys support in New Hampshire, took aim at his rival on Tuesday. In a new web video, the Huntsman team compared Romney to President Barack Obama on the economy.
Americans searching desperately for a leader who is ready to turn the economy around should hope that the policies Governor Romney puts forth today are the exact opposite of what he actually implemented during his one term as governor of Massachusetts, said Tim Miller, a spokesman for Huntsman. A record of raising fees and corporate taxes and strangling small business with new, onerous health-care regulations took Massachusetts to 47 of 50 in job growth. Governor Huntsman's free-market, pro-growth policies took Utah to No. 1 in job creation while Governor Romney's policies brought about the opposite. We already have one president with a dismal record on jobs; Americans aren't looking for another one.
In attacking Perry, Pauls camp contrasted the records of the two Republicans from the Lone Star State. The ad compares Paul to former President Ronald Reagan, who remains an icon among conservatives, noting that Paul was only one of four congressmen who backed Reagans primary challenge to President Gerald Ford back in 1976. The Paul team notes, in the ad, that Perry was Texas chairman of Al Gore's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988.
Congressman Paul has an unparalleled record of championing true conservative principles, said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul. Dr. Pauls ideas of limited constitutional government, sound money and balanced budgets have won the day.
Other candidates are trying to parrot Dr. Pauls principles, but their records prove they cannot be trusted to live up to their rhetoric, Benton added. Dr. Paul is the only candidate with the credibility and integrity to restore America now.
The Paul ad will be hitting the airwaves in some of the early primary and caucus states -- including Iowa and New Hampshire.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
