Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is up with a new ad that attacks Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) for backing then-Sen. Al Gore (D-Tenn.) for president in 1988 and touts Paul's 1976 endorsement of Ronald Reagan for president.



"Now Americans must decide who to trust: Al Gore's Texas cheerleader or the one who stood with Reagan," the ad closes.

Perry was a Democrat until 1989, and was Gore's Texas campaign chairman in 1988. Paul was one of a handful of Republican elected officials to back Reagan's insurgent primary campaign against then-President Ford in 1976. The ad likens Paul's status as an outsider disliked by the GOP establishment to Reagan's position then.



"The establishment called him extreme and unelectable. They said he was the wrong man for the job," says the ad's narrator. "It's why a young Texan named Ron Paul was one of only four congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan for president, believing in Reagan's message of smaller government and lower taxes."

Perry's campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.



The ad will appear in both broadcast and Web format, with substantial airtime buys in New Hampshire and Iowa, according to Paul's campaign.

Watch it here:



