Ron Paul's presidential campaign mocked the GOP field for dwelling on the “Etch A Sketch” remark from a Mitt Romney aide, arguing important issues are being sidelined while Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich act like “carnival barkers.”
An ad released by the Paul campaign Friday opens with Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom's comments, but quickly cuts to a montage of Gingrich and Santorum waving the children's toy around on the campaign stump.
Fehrnstrom told CNN on Wednesday that the Romney campaign is
"almost like an Etch A Sketch” as it moves forward to November, because "you can kind of shake it up and restart it all over again."
Gradually, news anchors and political commentators are shown in the Paul ad, all referencing the Etch A Sketch, until the montage concludes with Santorum, holding the toy in his hand, saying, "We're talking about big things here, folks."
On-screen text then lists a series of concerns, including the unemployment rate and military conflicts in the Middle East.
"Tired of the games?" the ad then asks, segueing to a promise that Paul has "a serious plan to restore America now."
“Conservatives and Constitutionalists have long been concerned about Mitt Romney’s track record of position changes and flip-flops, and his top adviser's slip of the tongue only reinforces this suspicion,” said Paul spokesman Jesse Benton in a statement. “It is equally off-putting to see Santorum and Gingrich react like carnival barkers, not the statesmen America sorely needs."
Paul has been a relatively quiet force in the GOP race, finishing a distant forth in most of the recent primary contests and dramatically scaling back his campaign appearances.
But Paul has a campaign appearance scheduled next week at the University of Maryland — just outside Washington, D.C. — and hopes to pick up a significant load of delegates in May's Texas primary, where 155 are at stake.
