GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said in October that he "almost threw up" when he read John F. Kennedy's 1960 address on the role of religion in the public square and it appears Mitt Romney has made him feel queasy enough to imply he will vote for President Barack Obama if Romney is the eventual Republican nominee.
"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," said Santorum said of Romney.
"If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the etch a sketch candidate of the future.”
The etch a sketch reference is a shot at Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom who earlier said Romney could re-set his campaign for a run against Obama.
Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said Wednesday on CNN, "I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes."
"It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."
Taking one for Team Obama?
GOP "team player" Santorum's strategy now appears to be to try to continue to bash Romney all the way to the convention, and hope to steal the nomination at the last moment with a brokered convention, or weaken Romney for Santorum's newly favored candidate over Romney, President Obama.
Will Santorum be able to sabotage Romney for his run against Obama from within?
The Romney camp has responded with this statement from the former Massachusetts governor:
“I am in this race to defeat Barack Obama and restore America’s promise. I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican. 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.”
(Image: WENN)