Mitt Romney’s campaign is responding to the latest web video from Rick Perry with some heavy stuff, accusing the candidate of broader “problems with the truth.” The line is reminiscent of common criticisms of Sarah Palin and, more recently, Michele Bachmann, whose reputations for phony claims have been a major drag on their political ambitions.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Rick Perry has problems with the truth. Each of Rick Perry’s attacks has been proven false,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. “Instead of dreaming up phony attacks on Mitt Romney, Governor Perry should explain why he encourages illegal immigration, why he wants to dismantle Social Security, and why he accepted billions of dollars of stimulus to cover up his massive budget deficit.”
Romney’s team pointed to three recent attacks by Perry on their campaign in the last three days in an e-mailed press release, noting that independent fact checkers like Factcheck.org, Politifact, and the Washington Post’s Glen Kessler, have labeled them false or misleading. At least one Perry claim suggesting that Romney wrote in his book that he wanted to impose his Massachusetts law on the nation, clearly missed the mark (Romney has been clear since 2007 he favors state-based solutions). Romney’s campaign also pointed to a Washington Post fact check slamming a Perry web video claiming that Romney flip flopped on the president’s “Race to the Top” initiative for misleading editing, though Romney has certainly praised elements of the program. Finally, the e-mail noted that the Perry campaign’s recent attack on Romney for editing his book to be more hostile to the stimulus in its paperback edition, left out some key passages from the original version criticizing the law.
