As someone who supports Rick Santorum for President, and who will caucus tomorrow in the next phase of Minnesota’s political process as a delegate, I understand the need to replace Barack Obama in 2012 in order to right the American ship of state and address the serious problems that Obama has either created, amplified, or ignored over the last three years.  I do, however, wonder whether Senator Santorum understands that need.  Yesterday, as Allahpundit noted with excellent analysis, Santorum told a Louisiana audience that if Mitt Romney won the nomination, we’d be better off sticking with what we’ve already got:

“You win by giving people a choice. 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 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,” Santorum told a crowd at USAA.

Er, no, we wouldn’t be better off with Obama than with Romney, for many reasons.  Before we get to those reasons, let’s note that Newt Gingrich, at least, does get this right:

“I may have some very substantial disagreements with Gov. Romney. There is no doubt in my mind that if the choice was Gov. Romney or Barack Obama, we would have no choice,” Gingrich said. “The danger of Obama is so great that I would hope that every candidate running – Ron Paul, Gov. Romney and Sen. Santorum – that we would all agree that whoever becomes the Republican nominee, we have one common goal and that is to defeat Barack Obama.”

While Gingrich finds faults with his GOP rivals, he has told crowds throughout his campaign that any of the other candidates are superior to the current president.

It seems that Senator Santorum has forgotten the purpose of the Republican primary.  It’s to choose the most successful candidate to beat Obama in the general election.  It isn’t to test a few candidates to see whether the goal of beating Obama is worth the bother.

And why do we need to beat Obama?  The economic policies of this administration have been an utter disaster.  The Senate won’t pass any budgets, not even the President’s, while he’s in the Oval Office.  Energy prices are going through the roof thanks to the massive regulatory hurdles his administration has created to production and refining, especially on federal lands.  An ObamaCare repeal will only happen if Obama is no longer President, assuming that the Supreme Court doesn’t throw the whole law out this summer.

Most of all, a second Obama term would be infinitely worse than the first.  We have already had a taste of what this will be like over the last few months, as Obama unveiled his class-warfare core.  We’ve also seen Obama’s commitment to limited government as he has tried to manipulate the law to bypass Congress on policy, and openly bragged about it.   Imagine an Obama who no longer needed to worry about his next election, and what that Obama might do in office.

In fact, imagine how many Supreme Court openings there will be in the next term of office, and then tell me there’s no difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama being in the White House to make those appointments, Senator Santorum.

I will go to the caucuses tomorrow.  I expect Senator Santorum to have recovered his sense of reality and apologize for that statement by that time.  If not, I may end up arguing for another candidate when we meet to discuss the next phase at our Republican caucus.

Addendum: One last point.  People who enter primary contests should be prepared to support the eventual product of that primary and unite behind that candidate.  If a candidate can’t do that, he has no business asking his party for the nomination in a primary contest in the first place.  Santorum didn’t explicitly say he wouldn’t support Romney if Romney won, but that statement comes pretty close to the mark.

Update: Don’t forget why I endorsed Santorum in the first place when considering this piece.  I disagree with Santorum on some issues, notably DADT and a few others.  However, I thought he conducted himself with integrity during the campaign and stayed out of the immature (and worse) sniping in which Romney and Gingrich engaged.  I find this very, very disappointing, and potentially nullifying on those points.  I will, however, be open to whatever explanation Senator Santorum offers today.