Romney blasts Perry’s Social Security plan

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign rolled out a fresh attack Thursday against Texas Gov. Rick Perry, saying that Mr. Perry’s new plan to reshape Social Security doesn’t square with his previously stated stances on the issue.

The campaign shot out an email blast contrasting Mr. Perry’s five-point Social Security plan — which calls for preserving the benefits for current and near-term beneficiaries and allows younger workers to invest in personal savings accounts — against statements cherry-picked from in his book, “Fed Up!,” in which he wrote that the program has been something Americans have been forced to accept for 70 years “at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government.”

“Rick Perry has said he stands behind everything he wrote in “Fed Up!,” but his new position on Social Security stands in stark contrast to his earlier views on the program. Voters deserve to know where Rick Perry really stands on the issues,” said Gail Gitcho, Mr. Romney’s communications director.

The morning shot follows a series of attacks from the campaign of the three-term Texas governor, who has plummeted in polls, that aim to reinforce Mr. Romney’s image as a flip-flopper. Mr. Romney is vying for front-runner status with former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain.

This week the Perry campaign described Mr. Romney as a “finger-in-the-wind” politician after he seemed to suggest he wouldn’t take a stand on Ohio’s 6-month-old law curbing the power of public-sector unions, which polls show is heading toward defeat in a November referendum.

Mr. Romney clarified his stance on the issue Wednesday during a campaign stop in voter-rich Northern Virginia, where he said he “fully supports” Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s effort.

During an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News on Tuesday, Mr. Perry questioned Mr. Romney’s core convictions.

“How do you change at the age of 50 or 60, positions on life, positions on guns, positions on traditional marriage?” Mr. Perry said. “I mean, those aren’t minor issues, Bill. So to change those at age of 50 or 60 tells you all you need to know about that.”