Rick Santorum is going hard after Mitt Romney in a new Web
advertisement, directly tying the former Massachusetts governor’s policies to
those of President Obama.
“What if I told you this man’s government-mandated healthcare
included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs? Would you ever vote for
him?” the narrator says, while standing in front of a picture of Obama.
“What if I told you he supported radical environmental job-killing cap-and-trade and the Wall Street bailouts? And what if I told you he
dramatically raised taxes and stuck taxpayers with a $1 billion shortfall?”
the spokeswoman continues. “One more thing. What if I told you the man I’m
talking about isn’t him?”
The picture of Obama
then morphs into a picture of Romney.
“It’s him,” the woman
concludes.
The ad is in line with Santorum’s argument that Romney
doesn’t draw a clear enough distinction between the president’s policies and
those of the GOP. In recent weeks, Santorum has called Romney “the worst
candidate” to go up against Obama on healthcare, which will likely be a
critical issue in the general election.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney instituted reforms that
many conservatives allege served as the blueprint for the Obama administration’s
healthcare law.
“Rick Santorum is attacking pollsters, attacking reporters and attacking Mitt Romney," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. "It is sad to see him completely lose his bearings and revert to patently false claims. Senator Santorum is at a point of desperation that he will say or do anything. It is pretty clear that he is lashing out at everyone around him in order to prop up his sinking campaign.”
Santorum has his work cut out ahead of Tuesday’s primary
contests, and the Wisconsin primary in particular will be critical for his
campaign on a number of fronts.
There are 42 delegates at stake in the winner-take-all
contest, and Romney is likely to sweep Tuesday’s other primaries in Maryland,
as Romney has excelled in the Northeast, and in Washington, D.C., where
Santorum failed to make the ballot.
Romney leads by 7
percent in Wisconsin, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
With Romney already holding a more than two-to-one lead in
delegates, and leading by double digits in most national polls, Santorum needs
to quickly mount a momentous comeback if he hopes to prevent the narrative that
Romney is the party’s inevitable nominee.
A victory for Santorum in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin
would be a good start, as the former Pennsylvania senator has touted his
ability to connect with blue-collar voters. However, Santorum has so far been
unable to close the deal in the region, falling just short of Romney in
Michigan and Ohio.
- This post was updated at 11:35 a.m.
