There’s certainly a cost that comes with a surge in the Republican presidential polls.
Just a couple weeks ago, Texas Congressman Ron Paul‘s campaign targeted former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the erstwhile front-runner, as a “serial hypocrite.” Now, Paul’s campaign has produced an ad with similar themes going after former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the candidate who has gained the most momentum since finishing second in last week’s Iowa caucuses.
A shortened version of the online-only video below is scheduled to hit the South Carolina television airwaves beginning on Monday, according to Paul’s national campaign chair, Jesse Benton.
In the video, called “Betrayal,” Santorum is accused of having “a black belt in hypocrisy.” Several reasons are cited, including Santorum’s lobbying activities and a congressional record that shows he previously voted to raise the debt ceiling.
“This ad showcases the real Rick Santorum and it’s the reason why Santorum should be leery of competing in the ‘First in the South’ Republican primary,” Benton said in a statement released with the video.
Santorum has reportedly raised more than $2 million since his near-win in Iowa, but it’s unclear whether it’s enough to wage a battle against the onslaught of negative ads that are likely to come his way.
Watch the video below.
In recent days, Paul has been swept up in another video controversy. A group claiming to be his supporters, called NHLiberty4Paul, produced a racially charged video that calls presidential candidate and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman a “Manchurian candidate,” questions his values for speaking Chinese and shows images of the two daughters he adopted from China and India.
According to The Huffington Post and CNN, Paul and his campaign immediately denounced the video, but it’s bringing unwanted criticism to the campaign during a critical time. In New Hampshire, Paul is running a distant second behind Iowa caucus winner Mitt Romney. In fact, The Washington Post‘s The Fix blog points out public sentiment toward Paul “turned drastically negative in the first few days of 2012.”
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