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Fighting for Iowa's Evangelicals, Perry Targets Santorum

Gov. Perry campaigning last week in DeWitt, Iowa
Photo by Ben Philpott, KUT News
Gov. Perry campaigning last week in DeWitt, Iowa

Texas Governor Rick Perry spent the last two weeks namelessly attacking Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney by telling voters that they didn't need to elect a Washington D.C. or Wall Street insider.

But at this morning's campaign stop in the Iowa town of Washington, the governor focused his attack specifically on former Pennsylvania SenatorRick Santorum. A new CNN/Time poll showed Santorum jumping from sixth place in Iowa to third.

Perry tagged Santorum as an insider who helped create the nations's debt problem by adding earmarks to his bills.

With just five days until caucus night and the assumption that Santorum and Perry are currently splitting the state's Republican evangelical Christian base, there was an apparent urgency by Perry not to be coy and put a name to an attack.

The governor also continued his attack on those unnamed Washington and Wall Street insiders by asking the crowd if they thought replacing a Democratic Insider with a Republican insider would make any changes in D.C.

Update at 11:55 a.m. Perry's campaign has been distributing this clip from Fox News, which they say shows Santorum supported earmarks in 2009. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfYBJf6oFnk

Ben Philpott is the Managing Editor for KUT. Got a tip? Email him at bphilpott@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @BenPhilpottKUT.
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