Ron Paul said that he didn't have to be "too creative" in putting together an ad bashing Newt Gingrich as a flip-flopper and bemoaned media attention lavished on Herman Cain's fall from grace during an interview Friday.
"I don't like that part of politics, I wish we could debate the issues," Paul said of his ad criticizing Gingrich on Fox News.
But, Paul said, the commercial, which was released earlier this week, wasn't difficult to make.
"That wasn't too tough - we didn't have to be too creative," Paul said.
The Texas congressman said that his campaign launched the attack ad because they recognized it might get traction in a media environment increasingly dominated by sensationalism. Pressed by Fox News host Neil Cavuto, Paul bemoaned the media attention given to Herman Cain's alleged sexual improprieties. Cain is poised to announce Saturday whether he will stay in the presidential hunt.
"How much time did we spend on that?" Paul asked. "You go back and look at the hours spend on that… and then looking at the flip-flopping on issues."
"It must be good TV or they wouldn't do it, it's on constantly."
Paul said that he would have "preferred" that Cain's fall came from policy substance rather than personal issues.
"I would have preferred it was his support for a national sales tax," Paul said.
Paul said he didn't see Newt Gingrich's personal life becoming a personal issue, because there were enough "new" troubles stemming from his equivocations on policy issues that were ripe for attack. He went on to say that America was forgiving to politicians that admitted personal issues, citing President Clinton as an example.
But Paul was not completely without praise for the former House Speaker, acknowledging Gingrich "has been one of the best of the other candidates" in criticizing the actions of the Federal Reserve.
