Ron Paul slams “counterfeit” conservatives

After his rivals accused presidential hopeful Ron Paul of working to help the campaign of Mitt Romney, the congressman from Texas is taking on the Republican Party frontrunner — and the rest of the GOP establishment — with his latest mailer.

Some Republican voters in the state of Oklahoma received a political ad from Representative Ron Paul in their mailboxes this week urging them to discredit the congressman’s competition, which he considers a collective of “counterfeit” conservatives.The advert also serves as the first time that the libertarian-leaning lawmaker has openly attacked former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney after Senator Rick Santorum suggested that the two were conspiring together.Paul’s latest plug takes on all of the other competing candidates, with a warning that “Counterfeits won’t cut it.” The congressman includes pictures of Romney, Santorum and Newt Gingrich, along with items from each competitor’s political career that would cause more conservative-minded Oklahoma residents to think twice before casting their vote. Romney, reveals Paul, was an “architect for Obamacare,” a supporter of TARP and “said abortion should be legal.”While Paul has previously hit Santorum and Gingrich with gusto during his campaign, he has been hesitant to publically put-down Romney with the same enthusiasm he has used against the others. Last month, Senator Santorum responded to that revelation by suggesting that the two candidates were in cahoots and masterminding a conspiracy to oust Santorum from the race."You just have to take a look at what his real objective is. If it's really going after trying to fundamentally change Washington, why is he being the wingman for Mitt Romney all throughout this campaign," charged Santorum, who also called Paul a “fake.”The congressman openly countered those arguments in the days that followed and said he would “never” be involved in Romney’s campaign. This week he told CNN that Santorum had “dreamt” that idea and suggested Santorum “should talk about the issues instead” of manufacturing make-believe allegations.Santorum is not spared in Paul’s latest political ads either. Next to his mug in the mailer, Paul charges that the senator “Opposed the National Right to Work Act; Voted to raise the debt ceiling 5 times and Voted for budget-busting Medicare Part D entitlement.” In regards to Gingrich, Paul publicizes that he “Supported Obamacare; Supported Cap and Trade; Supported Government bailouts.”In the results of a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Monday this week, the group says that current quizzing of likely voters suggests that Paul and Romney are the only Republican Party candidates that stand a chance at winning in a race against incumbent Barack Obama. The GOP will formally select their nominee later this summer.