Rick Santorum has vowed to help GOP contender Mitt Romney win the presidential election, according to his press secretary.
In an interview on CNN, Santorum press secretary Alice Stewart said Santorum offered Romney assurances when he called the presumptive GOP presidential nominee to tell him he was ending his campaign.
Stewart said Santorum assured Romney “that they’ll have conversations in the next few days and weeks to come and he has vowed to do what ever it is that Gov. Romney needs to help him defeat Barack Obama in November.”
Stewart told CNN that Santorum could potentially act as a surrogate for Romney and speak out on the campaign trail on behalf of the former Massachusetts governor.
She also called on Republicans to “get together” to challenge President Obama and said that Santorum would use the support he has gained throughout the primary to “reach out” to fiscal, social and evangelical conservatives during the race for the White House.
“Mitt Romney has more of the popular vote. He certainly has more of the delegates … he has earned the spot where he is and he has earned the support of the Republican party and it’s incumbent upon the rest of us to rally behind him,” Stewart said.
Santorum announced Tuesday that he was ending his campaign for the presidency at an event in his home state of Pennsylvania.
“While this presidential race is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting,” he said from Gettysburg, Pa., flanked by his family.
Santorum did not mention Ronney in his comments.
Santorum was a voice for social conservatives during the campaign and could help bring them further into Romney’s tent as he readies for the general election fight with President Obama.
At the same time, Santorum hit Romney hard during the primary fight, and Stewart was pressed on how Santorum would reconcile those attacks with his support for Romney.
Stewart told CNN that “the job now is to look forward.”
“That’s in the heat of the primary and the job of all the candidates is to show the contrast where Rick differs from Gov. Romney and that’s exactly what he was doing, but as we stand now the most important thing now is to put up the strongest Republican to beat the president,” she said.
{The Hill/Matzav.com Newscenter}
What happenend to
‘Presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isnt the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.
Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast.
You win by giving people a choice, Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone whos just going to be a little different than the person in there.
Santorum added: If theyre 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.
Santorum was referencing Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstroms comment Wednesday that everything changes for the fall campaign. Its almost like an Etch A Sketch, he said on CNN. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.
The remark reignited criticism of Romney as the type of politician who will say or do anything to win.
Romney, who made no public appearances Thursday, issued a statement expressing disappointment that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.
During his speech to employees of USAA, a San Antonio-based insurance and financial services firm, Santorum briefly held up an Etch A Sketch and said his positions dont change like etchings on the toy, which are erased with a shake. He could be seen fiddling with the toys knobs in the intervals between questions from audience members.
Addressing reporters afterward, Santorum lit into Romney for saying Im going to run as a conservative.
He didnt say I am a conservative. He said Im going to run as a conservative. So what do you do, you just sort of decide what youre going to be for the elections? Santorum asked. No one can accuse me of that. People say, Well, you cant win because of that. No, I will win because of it.’
But then again
‘Santorum said his brand of political authenticity will play well in Texas because people are looking for someone who is real, someone they can relate to, not someone who can get in front of an audience and say whatever they want.
The Texas primary has been pushed to May 29 because of litigation over redistricting maps drawn by the Republican-dominated state Legislature. Santorum said he expects to win Saturdays primary in Louisiana and added, The race will not be over when Texas comes around.’
Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It if truth be told was a entertainment account it. Look complicated to far introduced agreeable from you! However, how can we keep up a correspondence?
It’s good he wants to help beat obama
#1, Santorum’s attack on Romney was primary propaganda. That there is a real and clear contrast between Romney and Obama is obvious to anyone who is paying attention.