“You win by giving people a choice,” he said in a Texas speech. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”
Santorum then returned to the latest anti-Romney metaphor: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch a Sketch candidate for the future.”
Both Romney and Gingrich disapproved of the remark. Said Romney, “This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America. Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure.”
Newt agreed, saying, “Rick Santorum is dead wrong. Any GOP nominee will be better than Obama.”
Santorum had justified his remarks with his critique of Romney’s claim that “I’m going to run as a conservative.”
“He didn’t say ‘I am conservative.’ He said ‘I’m going to run as a conservative.’ So what do you do, you just sort of decide what you’re going to be for the elections?” asked Santorum. “No one can accuse me of that. People say, ‘Well, you can’t win because of that.’ No, I will win because of it.”
Santorum’s next goal is to win Louisiana’s primary this Saturday, but he said that “The race will not be over when Texas comes around.” The Texas primary, which will be key for Santorum’s campaign, has been postponed till May 29.
“This is an important state for us,” Santorum said. “I’ve already spent a lot of time, I’ve already done a lot of campaign events in Texas. More than anybody else, I suspect.”