Santorum: Republicans "Might as Well" Vote for Obama if Romney Wins

Rick Santorum's team was hard at work Friday morning clarifying comments the social conservative made the previous day that suggested Republicans "might as well" vote for President Obama if Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination.

"What he was referring to in the context of a statement was that he's worried that voters will have that feeling," Santorum spokeswoman Alice Stewart said on CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien, adding: "Rick has made it abundantly clear once a nominee is chosen he'll stand behind the nominee and do everything we can to replace Barack Obama."

Despite those remarks, Stewart didn't walk away from her boss's portrayal of Romney as more-or-less a carbon copy of the president. "What we have with Mitt Romney is a mirror image of Barack Obama," she said. "Both believe in government takeover of health care, cap and trade, Wall Street bailout. We need a candidate as nominee for the Republican party that's a contrast to what we currently have and that's what Rick Santorum is."

Santorum has repeatedly painted his Republican rival as a moderate disguised as a conservative. But at a Texas campaign stop on Thursday, he went one giant step further.

"You win by giving people a choice," he said. "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. ... If they’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 for the future."

[If you haven't heard by now, the Etch A Sketch jab was in reference to a comment made Wednesday by Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom that "everything changes" come the general election. "It's almost like an Etch A Sketch," he said. "You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again."]