Santorum: Voters were afraid Romney was 'Etch A Sketch'

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says that conservative voters now have proof that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney "will say what he needs to say to win the election that is before him."

In a speech on energy policy in Harvey, Louisiana on Wednesday, Santorum noted that Romney Communications Director Eric Fehrnstrom told CNN that his boss would be "like an Etch A Sketch" and "shake it up and restart all over" with more moderate positions in the general election.

"Well, that should be comforting to all you who are voting in this primary," Santorum said sarcastically. "That whoever you are going to vote for is going to be a completely new candidate, remove all trace of any kind of marks and be able to draw a new picture -- maybe a picture similar to when he ran of governor of Massachusetts, not as a conservative."

"One thing you can say -- even my staunchest critics will say -- what you see is what you get," he continued. "Isn't that what we want from a Republican nominee for president, someone who is going to get up and say something in the primary, go out and ask for your vote and after he gets your vote, actually try to do the same thing in the general election and follow through and do what he's promised you from the beginning of this campaign?"

"I think a lot of voters -- and the reason that Gov. Romney hasn't be able to seal the deal -- believed what we now know to be the case: He will say what he needs to say to win the election that's before him. And if he has to say something different because it's a different election and a different group of voters, he's willing to say that too."

Following Fehrnstrom's remarks on Wednesday, Santorum's campaign quickly linked to the video posted by the liberal website Think Progress.

"We all knew Mitt Romney didn't have any core convictions, but we appreciate his staff going on national television to affirm that point for anyone who had any doubts," Santorum communication director Hogan Gidley said.

Watch this video from CNN, uploaded March 21, 2012.

Photo: Yfrog/Matt Beynon

(H/T: Think Progress)