Romney backer Jim Talent, who voted for Medicare Part D, slams Santorum for supporting Medicare Part D

On the campaign trail with Felicia Sonmez

On a Romney campaign conference call Tuesday, former senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.) slammed ex-senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) for voting in favor of the 2003 Medicare Part D bill.

It’s a line of attack that Mitt Romney’s GOP presidential campaign has frequently used against rival Santorum.

But it might have been a little more effective had Talent not, well, voted in favor of the 2003 Medicare Part D bill himself.

“His record shows that he’s been in the liberal wing of the Republican Party,” Talent said of Santorum during the call, noting that his former Senate colleague voted for measures including Medicare Part D and No Child Left Behind.

But Talent, like Santorum, was among the 54 senators who in November 2003 voted to create the federal program that subsidizes Medicare beneficiaries’ prescription drug costs, as a reporter noted during the call.

Oops.

Also on the call were freshman Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) and Missouri state auditor Tom Schweich, who argued that Romney is the candidate best poised to help the economy.

”I think right now at this point, Americans are really looking for a leader that knows how to create jobs and control spending. ... We need someone like Governor Romney who’s been there and done that,” Long said.

He added that Santorum “views himself as the second coming of Jim DeMint,” the conservative kingmaker from South Carolina.

“He’s not,” Long said.