As the race for the GOP nomination nears its end, the remaining contenders are turning up the heat on their competition.
In his latest ad, Texas Congressman Ron Paul goes after Rick Santorum, insisting that the former Pennsylvania senator is anything but the fiscal conservative he says he is.In a new campaign spot titled “Fake,” the Ron Paul campaign hits Santorum hard, exposing a laundry list of items that the former senator would more than likely like to keep under wraps as the race for the Republican Party nod intensifies. With recent state-wide races showing substantial support still across the US for Santorum, Paul and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the candidates only have so little time before the GOP nod is given away. Given Paul’s latest punch, the contenders aren’t concerned with being rough on the road to the party’s nomination, either.The latest promo clocks in at barely half-a-minute, but in it the Paul campaign manages to hit Santorum from seemingly every angle. It’s a brief spot, but in it Santorum is called out for his schizophrenic voting record, his foreign relations and his questionable history of aiding in the compensation for programs he has only gone on to attack himself.“Our new ad ‘Fake’ contains just a snippet of evidence against Rick Santorum being a fiscal conservative, but because these examples are so damning it makes the case convincingly,” Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton says of the advert.“Santorum touts his ‘conservative record’ all too often. It’s time that his real record makes its way into the national conversation we’re having about which Republican presidential candidate is the authentic, consistent conservative. That man is Ron Paul,” Benton adds.“Is this dude serious? Fiscal conservative? Really?” asks the ad’s narrator, who talks the audience through the history of Santorum’s political career in the span of only 35 seconds. Over a fast-paced, brass-heavy musical number that seems right out of a 1960s spy television program, a compilation of 3-d graphics and sound effects make up the basis for the latest campaign spot in which Santorum is exposed for an array of not-so-conservative decisions he made as an elected official. “Santorum voted to raise the debt ceiling five times, double the size of the Department of Education, then supported the biggest entitlement expansion since the ‘60s,” reveals the voiceover. With Santorum’s mug superimposed over a tie-dye template that all too fits the ad’s soundtrack, the narrator sums up his summation of Santorum with just two words: “Not groovy.”Also in the ad, Santorum is alleged to have voted in favor of outfitting former North Korea leader Kim Jong Il with financial aid, as well as offering support to the government of Egypt. Elsewhere, the Senator is linked to okaying millions in funding for Planned Parenthood, despite openly opposing abortion. Most, if not all, of the issues are likely to come up at the next GOP debate, which is scheduled for this Wednesday. The meeting of the Republican Party contenders will serve as a precursor to the upcoming Super Tuesday, where voters in several states will come together to cast a vote for the candidate of their liking.