New Perry Web Ad Calls Out Romney: ‘Words Have Meaning’

In a new web video entitled “Words Have Meaning,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign launched an attack on Mitt Romney, turning one of his own lines from Thursday’s debate on the former Massachusetts governor.

“I know what I stand for. I’ve written it down. Words have meaning,” Romney said Thursday.

The Perry Web ad highlights a passage from Romney’s book, “No Apology,” which shows his support of his Massachusetts health care plan and the potential it holds for implementation on the national scale.

“It’s portable, affordable health insurance — something people have been talking about for decades. We can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country,” Romney wrote in the 2010 edition of the book.

It then points to the 2011 paperback edition of Romney’s book, which wipes out the line, “We can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country.”

The video continues to underline more of Romney’s arguments at the Florida debate when he expressed his commitment to adhering to what he wrote in the book.

“Please don’t try to make me retreat from the words that I wrote in my book. I stand by what I wrote. I believe in what I did, and I believe that the people of this country can read my book and see exactly what it is,” Romney said Thursday.

“Mitt Romney may try to edit his past, but he can’t – President Obama followed Mitt Romney’s model of Romneycare when he designed Obamacare,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said in statement.  ”Americans are looking for a proven and authentic conservative, not someone who changes his policies based on the ‘climate.’”

The Romney campaign responded to the web video by saying Perry’s book (“Fed Up!”) has problems of its own and suggested he should focus on defending that rather than attacking others with flimsy arguments.

“It has been widely proven that Rick Perry’s weak claim on Mitt Romney’s book is just a tall tale,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. “Gov. Perry should spend his time explaining his own book, ‘Fed Up!’, and not take on the challenge of two.”