Okay, first, you have got to watch this new web ad from Rick Perry going after Mitt Romney for allegedly being an Obamaclone:
Purely from the standpoint of political entertainment, that ad is
fabulous. It's totally over-the-top, but it makes great use of Mitt Romney's own words against him—without taking them out of context.
If you're not a Republican, the ad is crack-me-up hilarious, not just because of its stylistic qualities, but also because in order to accuse Mitt Romney of being a stealth liberal Democrat, Rick Perry not only relies on video clips of Chris Hayes and Barack Obama to make his point, he also attacks Mitt Romney's wealth, saying "even the richest man can't buy back his past."
So to position himself as a true conservative, Rick Perry isn't just using the words of a progressive journalist and a Democratic president, he's also practicing a bit of what Republicans like to call "class warfare." As Stephen Colbert would say, that's a tip of the cap and a wag of the finger.
And how is Mitt Romney responding to all this? By calling Perry a liar who used to work for Al Gore:
In email blast accusing Perry of stretching truth, Romney camp calls Al Gore Perry's "one-time boss"
Well, it's true that Perry was co-chairman of Gore's 1988 presidential campaign in Texas. But if you're sending an email accusing Perry of stretching the truth, you might want to stop short of saying Gore was Perry's "one-time boss." Unless, of course, your point is that you can stretch the truth too.