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A press release by Republican Sen. Sam Brownback's presidential campaign invokes a YouTube video as a primary source in launching an attack against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his stance on abortion. It's the same YouTube video used by Arizona Sen. John McCain's rival campaign earlier in the week for the same purpose.

Abortion and stem cell research have been two key issues for evangelical Christians, a voting bloc which ran overwhelmingly for Pres. George W. Bush during the 2004 election. With those votes now up for grabs, the 2008 Republican candidates are stressing each small difference of opinion on those and the other so-called faith-based issues.

The video showing Romney's remarks on abortion was posted Wednesday by a user named mittvsfact, who opened a user account just Tuesday. In addition to the video highlighted by the McCain and Brownback campaigns, the user has uploaded one showing Romney making remarks on stem cell research and calling for excess embryos to be used for research. One hundred people have viewed the stem cell video while nearly 7,000 have viewed the one highlighted by the rival campaigns.

On Wednesday, the McCain campaign issued a press release with this banner at the top: "Mitt vs. Fact: Say. Do. Anything." Listed as press contact is Matt David, who was hired by McCain's campaign in December. David used to be in charge of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's highly efficient "war room" and rapid-response team.

The Brownback press release issued Thursday morning was a gentler version of McCain's. Although there was no obvious correlation between Brownback and the video or YouTube profile, a direct question from this journalist elicited the following email: "The Brownback campaign was not involved in any way with the YouTube video referenced in our release."

The timing of the press release is obviously intended to interfere with news and upcoming events the Romney team has planned. The video was released on the same day that Romney's campaign released a list of social-conservative supporters, and just two days before Romney's scheduled remarks today before the National Right to Life Convention in Kansas City.

"I would assume that those social conservatives who are supporting Romney did not know at the time he had misled them about his conversation story," Martin Gillespie, political director of Brownback for President, stated in the press release. "I would encourage those who have supported Romney to publicly ask him to clarify when exactly he became pro-life, or if he did at all."

Although it's fairly easy to connect the dots between the YouTube video and McCain's campaign, it hardly marks the first time such information has come to light. A search of available videos on the topic of "+Romney +abortion" reveals 39 entries, the vast majority of which protray the former governor's evolving stance on the issue. It also does not mark the first time McCain's campaign has gone on the offensive.

What it does show is a change in strategy or attitude (take your pick) for the Brownback campaign -- one that will likely come to a head later today at the National Right to Life Conference. Previously, Brownback, of Kansas, was pressing Romney on his nuanced definition of murder. It is unclear if his campaign merely saw an opportunity based on McCain's actions or if this signals an overall aggressive strategy for Brownback.