The Romney vs. Rudy war for fiscal conservatives’ support continues. Romney has a solid new ad touting his No Tax Increase pledge and his idea for tax free savings. It’s forward looking and positive. (His opponents will quibble that his line that “he stood firm to roll back taxes” neatly avoids the issue as to whether he actually reduced taxes.) Meanwhile Rudy continues with his “Making Cents” pitch featuring a clip with the Club for Growth logo blazing in the background and a fact sheet explaining how he eliminated the deficit in New York. Both will be speaking today at the Americans for Prosperity meeting and are looking ahead to the Michigan debate next week where they and the others will have an opportunity to blast the Michigan Democrats who pushed through a tax increase –a brilliant strategy in a depressed economy.

Meanwhile, some suggest that free trade and low taxes (subscription required) aren’t the selling points they once were. I tend to agree with John Podhoretz that the GOP has simply ceded ground and failed to make the case for conservative economic policies. Romney and Rudy will have their work cut out for them.