A few days ago, it looked like the week’s best Ron Paul-related video was going to be from the women behind the “Pin Ups for Ron Paul” fundraising calendar, who, as the Houston Chronicle reported, took to YouTube for some fresh publicity on Monday.

But the Paul campaign had something better. On Wednesday the Lake Jackson Republican Congressman made his move against presidential primary frontrunner-of-the-moment Newt Gingrich, with a lengthy Internet attack ad titled “Newt Gingrich: Serial Hypocrisy.”

It includes critiques of Gingrich from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Wisconsin Republican representative* Paul Ryan, calling into question both Gingrich’s ideological consistency and his attempt to reinvent himself as a Beltway outsider. 

The headline on Politico read, “Ron Paul Campaign Ad Torches Newt Gingrich.”

“Devastating” agreed Salon‘s Joan Walsh, who appears with CNBC’s Ed Schultz in the ad.

A new Rasmussen poll puts Paul in third place in New Hampshire, with the support of fourteen percent of likely Republican voters. That’s well behind both New Englander Mitt Romney (34 percent) and the Manchester Union-Leader-endorsed Gingrich (24 percent). 

But if there’s only room for one Romney alternative, could Paul still get a turn? Progressive Austin blogger and political consultant Harold Cook says yes:

A perfectly-timed communication can be a game-changer. This may be one of those times . . .

Clearly Paul wants to be the next in batting order for leader-of-the-week, and this ad may not only shorten Gingrich’s week, but also signal to voters that Paul is ready to be a grown-up and play with the big dogs.

At Slate, David Weigel was more dismissive, calling the clip “today’s grainy anti-Newt attack video,” and referencing Paul’s “perpetual quest for second place.”

*Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified Paul Ryan as a senator. We regret the error.