Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is asking why Ron Paul continues to attack him and Newt Gingrich but has basically passed over front runner Mitt Romney. And looking at Paul’s YouTube page proves that Santorum may have a point.
“You have to ask Congressman Paul and Governor Romney what they’ve got going together,” Santorum said after this week’s Arizona debate, reported the Daily Mail. “Their commercials look a lot alike and so do their attacks.”
Later someone from Santorum’s campaign suggested that Romney was possibly considering Paul as a vice presidential candidate. Paul denied that the two campaigns were working together on an appearance on The Scott Hennen Show but did say Romney was someone he “could talk to.”
“I never sat down with Mitt and said ‘Well let’s do this or that,’” Paul told the radio host. “There’s no doubt that he’s been more of a gentleman when I talk to him. It’s never been in my interest to go after him. Everyone else was doing that.”
Yet take a look at Paul’s YouTube page and you’ll see ads that, with the exception of his endorsement at the end, could have very well been crafted by Romney. This week, for example, he launched a 30-second spot calling out Santorum and his fiscally conservative credentials.
Two months earlier, Newt Ginigrh received the same attack treatment in a two-minute ad accusing the former House Speaker of being a Washington insider. Both commercials came at times when Santorum or Gingrich had been on the rise and posed the largest threat to Romney—not Paul.
Of course, as mentioned on his appearance on The Scott Hennen Show, Paul had called Romney a “flip-flopper,” most prominently in a commercial attacking all three of his competitors, titled “Three of a Kind.” But that’s a mild criticism in comparison to his other ads.
So why would Paul be so easy on the frontrunner? Well, those in Santorum’s campaign may not be so far off. Paul has obviously a smart political mind and must know his chances of winning the nomination are slim. But what’s the best way to keep his message going forward after he’s no longer in the race?
One step would be trying not to tick off Romney, the guy who is still most likely going to be leading the Republican Party this summer.
Phtoto by Gage Skidmore