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By Jen Green

Ron Paul pulls no punches with his latest ad seen below, which is airing right now during the Reagan Library presidential debate. It’s difficult to downplay the importance of this advertisement, for several reasons.

First, Ron Paul is finally showing that he is playing to win. All along, he has referred to the “establishment” candidates, and except for a few swipes at Rick Santorum in the last debate, has kept from calling any of them out. He has ridden the “outsider” horse for a while, and it served him well–to a point. But, the “me versus them” has gotten old. He needed to step up his game. He does just that with this ad calling out Rick Perry, his fellow Texan.

Secondly, Ron Paul embraces his conservative side with this ad. Yes, in the beginning, Reagan was considered an outsider. But today, we see him as the great conservative stalwart of our country. History softens the edges and rounds out the story. By associating himself with Reagan (and brilliantly just before a debate at the Reagan Library), Paul reminds us that he was a conservative before it was “cool.” He was willing to stand with Dutch when no one else would. A picture is worth a thousand votes (or more), and the image of a young Ron Paul standing side by side with our hero Reagan will burn into many memories tonight. On the other hand, Perry supporting the SNL punchline that Al Gore has become, well, that’s what the Paul people hope is gonna cost him a thousand (or more) votes.

Paul is doing exactly what the other candidates should be doing now–exposing the holes in Perry’s record and differentiating  himself from the GOP flavor-of-the-month. Agree with him or not, this ad is a very smart move. It remains to be seen if Paul can live up to the level of political savvy the ad portrays.