Ron Paul's latest ad slams Rick Perry as 'Al Gore's Texas cheerleader'

Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign released a new advertisement on Tuesday that attacks his rival Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his involvement in Al Gore's 1988 presidential bid. The ad also highlights Paul's early support for former President Ronald Reagan

The 60-second spot will be aired in New Hampshire and Iowa, and appear in banner ads on the Internet.

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

"After Reagan, Senator Al Gore ran for president, pledging to raise taxes and increase spending, pushing his liberal values. And Al Gore found a cheerleader in Texas named Rick Perry. Rick Perry helped lead Al Gore's campaign to undo the Reagan revolution, fighting to elect Al Gore President of the United States."

"Now, American must decide who to trust: Al Gore's Texas cheerleader, or the one who stood with Reagan," the ad concludes. "Restore America now."

Perry began his political career in 1984 as a Democrat, switching to the Republican Party in 1989. Perry served as Gore's Texas campaign chairman in 1988.

In response to the ad, Perry spokesman Mark Miner pointed out to CBS News that Paul resigned from the Republican Party in 1987 because he was disillusioned with the policies of Reagan.

"Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing deficits, and astoundingly a doubled national debt," he said in his resignation letter. "How is it that the party of balanced budgets, with control of the White House and the Senate, accumulated red ink greater than all previous administrations put together?"

Paul added that under Reagan taxes had increased, government spending had grown, economic growth had declined, and the IRS had grown more powerful. He also attacked Reagan for systematically violating personal liberties and privacy under the guise of cracking down on drug use.

"Paul thought President Reagan was so bad, he left the GOP," Miner said.

The ad comes after the latest Rasmussen Reports poll found Perry is the favorite pick among Republican voters in Iowa. Perry was the first choice for 29 percent of those surveyed, followed by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN) with 18 percent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with 17 percent, and Paul with 14 percent.

A previous ad, released by Paul's campaign in August, lumped his Republicans rivals together with Democrats and claimed he was the only GOP candidate that could defeat President Barack Obama in 2012.

In another ad from July, his campaign criticized Republicans from the 1980's to the present day for compromising with Democrats over the debt ceiling.

Watch Ron Paul's "Trust" advertisement below: