Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term in office if he (Santorum) doesn’t win the GOP nomination over frontrunner Mitt Romney.

“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 who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

Comparing Romney to an Etch-a-Sketch toy, Santorum continued: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with [Obama] instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”

Santorum has said that Romney’s political views change often and can be erased like the shake of an Etch-a-Sketch toy.

Romney, who won the Illinois primary on Tuesday, issued a statement Thursday expressing indignation at the fact “that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.”

Romney added: “Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure.”

GOP candidate Newt Gingrich tweeted: “Rick Santorum is dead wrong. Any GOP nominee will be better than Obama.”