A new campaign video from Texas Gov. Rick Perry shows he is going on the offense against lead opponent Mitt Romney on health care at Tuesday’s debate in New Hampshire.
Perry has been the piñata at every debate since he entered the Republican race for president, playing defense as the other candidates attack him. The video, released Monday, indicates that his campaign is now seeking to reverse the tide, shifting attacks to the former Massachusetts governor’s state health care overhaul.
Watch the video here:
“Mitt Romney clearly supports government-mandated health care since he fought for his Massachusetts mandate, which provided President Obama with the blueprint for Obamacare,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement.
“Romneycare has cost $8 billion and killed 18,000 Massachusetts jobs, yet Mitt Romney wrote in his book that his plan was a model for the nation. When it comes to government-mandated health care, there is no difference between Mitt Romney and President Obama,” he said.
Romney’s campaign shot back, describing Perry as “a desperate candidate who will say and do anything to prop up his sinking campaign”
“In trying to deflect attention from his liberal in-state tuition policy for illegal immigrants, he has resorted to repeated dishonesty, distortions, and fabrications about Mitt Romney,” said Gail Gitcho, Romney’s communications director.
“After a mere eight weeks on the trail, Governor Perry is poised to dethrone his one-time boss Al Gore as the most prolific exaggerator and truth-fumbler in presidential campaign history,” she said.