Ron Paul's new ad: Is he attacking his 'wingman'?
The Ron Paul campaign released a new ad Wednesday, and it鈥檚 getting some buzz because it appears to attack Mitt Romney. Before this, Mr. Paul and Mr. Romney seemed to get along pretty well 鈥� Rick Santorum at one point last week called the white-haired Texas libertarian Romney鈥檚 鈥渨ingman.鈥�
That would make Romney Paul鈥檚 wingman, too, in air-power parlance. A 鈥渨ingman鈥� is somebody who helps out a fellow pilot in combat.
Over at the liberal-leaning Think Progress blog, Judd Legum has rooted through debate transcripts and pronounced that in 20 debates, Paul has not attacked Romney once. But Paul has jabbed at his other rivals at least 39 times, according to Mr. Legum.
鈥淧aul is effectively acting as Romney鈥檚 on-stage surrogate during the debates. The key question is: what is Paul getting out of it?鈥� .
Some commentators have speculated that Paul is aiming for a good speaking slot at the Republican National Convention if Romney wins. Others suggest he might want his son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, as VP on the ticket. In any case, that鈥檚 the context in which the new ad is set.
The spot is called 鈥淭hree of a Kind,鈥� and it goes after all the remaining non-Paul GOP candidates. It starts off with Newt Gingrich, calling him a 鈥渟erial hypocrite鈥� and Washington insider who lobbied for Freddie Mac before the housing crisis. Then it hits Mr. Santorum as a 鈥渃ounterfeit conservative鈥� who has voted to increase US spending and fund Planned Parenthood. Lastly, it gets around to Romney, saying he鈥檚 a 鈥渇lip-flopper鈥� whose Massachusetts health plan provided the blueprint for "Obamacare."
鈥淭hree men 鈥� one vision. More big government. More mandates. Less freedom,鈥� says the ad鈥檚 apocalyptic-sounding narrator.
Wow. Tough, huh? Does this prove there鈥檚 no collusion between the Paul and Romney camps?
Well, we don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e actually working together. But neither do we believe this ad is nearly as tough on Romney as it appears to be at first glance.
For one thing, Romney gets off easy. What鈥檚 worse, a hypocrite or a flip-flopper? Especially when the flip-flopper鈥檚 been called that for so long it鈥檚 practically his Secret Service code name? The ad goes after Gingrich and Santorum on personal terms. Romney, not so much.
For another, as some conservative commentators are pointing out, the ad isn鈥檛 new. It first went up on YouTube in January. Then the campaign posted it again Wednesday, for some reason.
鈥淢y guess: The Paul campaign uploaded and circulated the ad again to convince campaign reporters that they are not colluding with Romney,鈥� writes .
The real reason Paul and Romney don鈥檛 attack each other is they have no real political reason to do so. Paul has a committed base of supporters that is larger than his 2008 base, but it isn鈥檛 big enough to threaten Romney in any noncaucus state. That鈥檚 true even in Virginia, where they鈥檙e the only two on the ballot for the state鈥檚 GOP primary March 6.
Romney, meanwhile, knows that he needs Paul inside the GOP tent if he (Romney) ends up winning the nomination. As Chris Cillizza notes Wednesday on the Washington Post 鈥淔ix鈥� political blog, Paul鈥檚 voters are intensely loyal to him, not the Republican Party. He鈥檇 take them with him to a third party, if that鈥檚 where he goes.
鈥淚f [Paul] runs as an independent in the fall, every poll we have seen suggests that he would hand President Obama a second term,鈥� .
