WASHINGTON -- Rick Santorum used the start of oral arguments over President Obama's health-care law on Monday as an opportunity to pounce on his top rival for the Republican presidential nomination.

Standing outside the Supreme Court here, Santorum quickly pivoted from his opposition to the law being discussed in the stately courthouse behind him to an aggressive contrast with Mitt Romney.  The former Pennsylvania senator repeated one of his often-used critiques of Romney, calling him "uniquely disqualified" to face off against Obama because of the similarities between the law being debated today and one that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts.

"There's one candidate who is uniquely disqualified to make the case,” Santorum said. “It's the reason I'm here, and he's not -- the reason that I talk about ‘ObamaCare’ and its impact on the economy and fundamental freedoms and Mitt Romney doesn't. It's because he can't, because he supported government-run health care as governor of Massachusetts."

Santorum used the backdrop of the Supreme Court's west entrance, where a security detail steered him through a crush of reporters hastily gathered for the press conference.  Advocates of the health law - who vastly outnumbered opponents outside the courthouse during the opening day of arguments – chanted, “Health care is a right!" at points during Santorum's address.

The setting was fitting for Santorum's frequently touted message.  On the campaign trail, he often calls the 2010 health-care law "the most important issue of the day." Repealing the law has been a top priority for Republican voters this primary, and today, Santorum called himself the only person able to do it.

"There's only one candidate that has a chance of winning the Republican nomination who can make this the central issue, that will be a winning issue for us to win the presidency back, and that's Rick Santorum,” Santorum said. “And unfortunately the worst person to make that case is Mitt Romney.”

The fiery rhetoric Santorum has used against his top rival has, at times, caused controversy on the stump. The most recent case happened on Sunday in Franksville, Wisc., when the GOP hopeful called Romney "the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."

Pressed by reporters about the comments after the event, Santorum lashed out, accusing the media of "distorting" his words and calling questions about his remarks "bull----."

Asked about it today, Santorum did not apologize for the profanity.

"I don't regret taking on a New York Times reporter who was out of line," he said. The campaign is now using the confrontation as a fundraising appeal.

Santorum took a break from campaigning in Wisconsin to visit the nation's capitol, even though he is not on the ballot here for the April 3 primary. His efforts in the coming days will largely be in the Badger State, where he is struggling to keep pace with Romney. 

Romney and the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future are outspending Santorum and allies nearly 10-to-1. Red, White, and Blue Fund today placed a $305,000 ad buy, but that brings the totals to $3 million for Romney to $340,000 for Santorum.

Santorum has remained dismissive of delegate math that has him far behind Romney. In response to a question about the electoral hurdles he faces, Santorum mocked top Romney surrogate John Sununu.

"I heard Governor Sununu say today that all of the significant people have said that Rick Santorum should get out of the race,” Santorum said. “Well, I guess we'll have to leave it to the insignificant voters of America in the remaining primaries to step forward and challenge the significant people who are speaking here in Washington, D.C.”

*** UPDATE *** Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams sends along this response:

"Senator Santorum is becoming increasingly shrill as his campaign hopes fade. It's important that all Republicans keep their focus on President Obama because if we want to repeal Obamacare we need to defeat him first. Obamacare is bad policy and bad law and when Mitt Romney is president he will get rid of it."

It was a tough week for Rick Santorum, suggesting that it would be better to elect Barack Obama than an "Etch-A-Sketch" Republican like Mitt Romney and then walking it back.

Now he's out with an over-the-top apocalyptic web video in the vein of every zombie movie ever made, depicting a stark world with vacant streets, boarded up buildings, and empty children's swings -- all caused by a president's "failed policies" particularly toward Iran.

The video even flashes an image of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Obama.

Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley called it "absurd" to think the campaign is comparing President Obama with the Iranian leader.

But that's not the only eyebrow raising aspect of this ad, titled "ObamaVille." It is supposed to take place in a "small American town two years from now if Obama is re-elected." At one point, a man is pressing a gas nozzle against his head. At another point an imagine of a man in an orange jump suit is quickly followed by one of a baby in a crib.

"If Ahmadinejad gets a nuclear weapon, then we're obviously going to deal with the fallout and coverage of that," Gidley said defending the ad. "All we're going to be seeing is images of him and the president. We were trying to illustrate that."

He said it is the first in a series of ObamaVille ads. It's the work of senior strategist John Brabender.

WEST MONROE, LA -- Rick Santorum denounced a comment Friday made, unbeknownst to him, by a woman who said that Santorum, while taking shooting practice, should pretend the targets were President Obama.

While the presidential contender was down field, taking aim at paper targets, a woman in the crowd could be heard shouting out "pretend it's Obama." The remark drew scattered chuckles from the assembled crowd.

Santorum himself did not hear the remark, but denounced it upon being informed of it; he was wearing headphones and was considerably down range when the comment was made.

"It's absurd. No I'm not pretending it's anybody but shooting pistols. It's a very terrible and horrible remark and I'm glad I didn't hear it."

The U.S. Secret Service told reporters they would look into it.

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Rick Santorum today suggested it would be better to stick with President Obama over a candidate that might be "the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future” -- a shot at chief rival Mitt Romney.

"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," said Santorum. "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.”

For the second day in a row, the former Pennsylvania senator brought an Etch A Sketch on the trail as a prop to remind voters of Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom's response to a question about whether Santorum is pushing Romney too far right to win over moderate voters in a general election. "Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes," Fehrnstrom said Wednesday on CNN. "It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."

The comment gave plenty of ammunition to Santorum and Newt Gingrich, both of whom have made the well-known children's toy a staple of their stump speeches.

Speaking at the USAA headquarters here, Santorum showed optimism about his chances in the delegate rich state of Texas. He told the crowd the primary would not be over by the time the Lone Star State votes on May 29.

"It's the second-biggest delegate prize, and you're going to have an important role. This race will not be over when Texas is coming around," he said.

Santorum's viability hinges on picking up a majority of the 155 delegates that will be up for grabs here. When asked about his path to the nomination, Texas plays a key role.

Still, the GOP hopeful avoided calling on Newt Gingrich to leave the race, though senior campaign advisers have said the former House speaker remaining in the race is cutting into their vote totals and that they would like to receive the former House speaker's support.

Santorum said his campaign has been in contact with both the Gingrich and Romney campaigns, though he declined to give specifics of the conversations.

"I’m worried about being a candidate. I’m not worried about anything else right now,” Santorum told reporters who asked about the nature of the conversations.

Accompanying Santorum on the trail today was billionaire-backer Foster Freiss, who is a chief contributor to the pro-Santorum Super PAC Red, White and Blue Fund. They will attend a fundraiser in Dallas on Thursday afternoon.

*** UPDATE *** The Romney camp responds with this statement from the former Massachusetts governor: “I am in this race to defeat Barack Obama and restore America’s promise. I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican. This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America. Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure.”

Republican presidential candidate and former Senator Rick Santorum holds up an Etch-a-sketch while addressing supporters at a "Get Out The Vote" rally in Mandeville, La., March 21, 2012.

ARBUTUS, MD -- Mitt Romney said he plans to run on the same issues in the general election as he has in the primary in response to a top aide's comment likening Romney's pivot to the general election to an Etch A Sketch.

Romney acted to hastily control the damage resulting from comments by adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on CNN, which prompted a day's worth of attacks from Democrats, as well as Romney's Republican rivals.

Romney told reporters following his lone event today that while his campaign will change organization, the issues on which he'll run "will be exactly the same."

"I'm running as a conservative Republican," he said. "I'll be running as a conservative Republican nominee."

The comments gave Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich a new weapon to use against Romney, figuratively and literally illustrating their case that the former Massachusetts governor is only a conservative of political convenience.

The two men, who lag behind Romney in the delegate count, jumped at the opportunity to attack Romney after a senior adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, this morning compared moving into the general election campaign to the children’s toy this morning, saying, “you can kind of shake it up and restart all of over again.”

Both Gingrich and Santorum brought small Etch A Sketch toys to their afternoon events in the state of Louisiana. 

“We're not looking for someone who's the Etch A Sketch candidate,” Santorum said after pulling out the toy during his event in Mandeville. “We're looking for someone who writes what they believe in in stone and stands true to what they say."

Santorum even told the crowd it was “the first of what I’m going to now call my ‘Etch A Sketch Tour of America.'"

“Given everybody's fears about Gov. Romney's flip flops, to have his communications director say publicly to all of us, if we're dumb enough to nominate him we should expect by the acceptance speech he'll move back to the left, triggers everything we should worry about,” Gingrich said as he began his town hall in Lake Charles, where he appeared holding the toy. "I think having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model, raises every doubt about where we're going."

The former House speaker handed the popular childhood toy to a little girl sitting in the front row of the Harlequin Steaks and Seafood restaurant and joked, “You can now be a presidential candidate.” (Gingrich went on and autographed the toy for her after the event.)

Santorum said he purchased his Etch A Sketch at a Toys R Us store “down the way” while the Gingrich campaign simply said they bought the “Cars” themed toy today.

But the two candidates themselves were not alone in their purchases.

More than 2,000 miles away outside Romney's Arbutus event, Santorum’s press secretary was passing out mini Etch A Sketches in the parking lot.

Holding the one remaining toy she had yet to distribute, Alice Stewart told reporters this “gaffe” from a top Romney advisor “confirms what a lot of conservative have been afraid of.”

“The campaign acknowledged that his [Romney’s] conservative credentials can come and go with the climate, just like an Etch A Sketch, and we can’t have that,” Stewart said.

Romney had initially refused to address Fehrnstrom’s Etch A Sketch comments while asked several times on the ropeline following his event in Maryland.

“I’m not doing a press conference right now, OK?” Romney told reporters.

One group that does seem happy with all the buzz of the children’s toy today is the Ohio Art Company, the Etch A Sketch manufacturer.

"Happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society," said Nicole Gresh, spokeswoman for the manufacturer. "A profound toy, highly recognized and loved by all, is now SHAKING up the national debate. Nothing is as quintessentially American as Etch A Sketch and a good old fashion political debate.”

Alex Moe reported from Lake Charles, LA. Jamie Novogrod reported from Mandeville, LA.

GETTYSBURG, PA -- A senior adviser to Rick Santorum's presidential campaign said on Tuesday that the primary season had not yet reached halftime and and sought to downplay the importance of tonight's Illinois primary.

John Brabender, Santorum's senior strategist, deflected questions about the former Pennsylvania senator's performance in the Land of Lincoln, instead focusing on recent electoral successes.

"We had a pretty good last week where we won Kansas and Alabama and Mississippi. And now we'll see if Mitt Romney can finally win one that's in the heart of America, if you will," he said. "He's had a little trouble doing that in the last few weeks."

Brabender -- who made these comments before the networks called Illinois for Romney -- acknowledged that they do not feel like they have a shot at competing with Romney to win the state. He said, "Whoever wins the state doesn't matter as much as who wins the different congressional delegates, so that's how we'll be keeping score tonight."

But the longtime Santorum adviser also made clear that a loss would not slow down the campaign.

"We're not even at halftime yet. I think we have to have two more states to get to the half-way point roughly," said Brabender. "And so, you know, we'll get through tonight."

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO -- Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said today Puerto Rico would not have to make English its official language in order to gain statehood, but maintained that the island territory would need to be bilingual.

Santorum drew fire on what was largely meant to be a goodwill trip to Puerto Rico for comments he made to a San Juan newspaper on Wednesday suggesting the U.S. territory needed to make English its official language before it could become the 51st state.  But speaking to reporters after here after visiting a local school, the former Pennsylvania senator said he simply called on the island to learn English.

"What I said is English has to be learned as a language and this has to be a country where English is widely spoken and used yes," Santorum said.

However Santorum did say he believes English needs to be taught and that Puerto Rican schools would need to teach the language as a condition of statehood.

"They need to be taught English. That's how you integrate fully into American life.  Its the best opportunity for you to be economically successful is to speak English," he said. "One of the important things about Puerto Rico is to be able to be a bridge between the mainland and central and south america, well bridge requires that you be able to speak both languages."

The island was Santorum's first campaign stop since two primary wins in Mississippi and Alabama.  It's a place that is largely seen to favor chief rival Mitt Romney, who has won the endorsement of Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño.  But Santorum's trip here is a sign he is hopeful he can earn some of the 23 delegates up for grabs during Sunday's primary.

The candidate visited the governor's mansion for a photo opportunity with Fortuño, his only appearance with the Puerto Rican leader.

Instead, it was the Secretary of Recreation of Sports Department Henry Neumann that was by his side during the two-day visit.

During a press conference on the steps of the governor's mansion, Santorum attempted to downplay the importance of Fortuño's endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor.  "The establishment across America has lined up behind Gov. Romeny very early on and I certainly respect that," he said. "He looked like the odds on favorite at the beginning of the campaign. We tend to do that as Republicans -- sort of take the person next in line."

The question the GOP hopeful most commonly faced was regarding his feelings towards Puerto Rican statehood.  He has said he favors allowing the island to decide for itself whether or not to abandon their territory status.  But, there would need to be a resounding consensus, not simply a majority plus one, Santorum said.

Throughout his campaign stops here, the candidate emphasized the work he did with Puerto Rico during his time in Congress.  It is the reason he took  exception to local reports characterizing his remarks about a bilingual Puerto Rico as a dig against those living on the island.

"This is my 3rd trip to Puerto Rico. We've worked with the people of Puerto Rico, governors of the past. We've done things to try to help benefit Puerto Rico. For someone to misrepresent and completely fabricate something that I never said or even intimated is very disappointing," he said.

The latest candidate to surge in Republican nominating contest did not draw overwhelming crowds to his campaign stops, until his last event -- a parade throughout the streets of Old San Juan.  Walking behind a marching band and an emcee shouting his name, Santorum greeted surprised Puerto Ricans during the march that shut down blocks of the old city.

He has not set an expectations for how he'll finish here on Sunday, predicting only that he'll earn "as many delegates as we can get."

Santorum returns to the continental United State tomorrow, spending the remainder of the week stumping in Missouri, Illinois and Louisiana.

BILOXI, MS -- Rick Santorum today said that the United States should apologize for the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians killed by an American soldier on Sunday.

"This was something that was deliberately done by an American soldier to innocent civilians," Santorum said to reporters after delivering an energy address here. "It’s something that the proper authorities should apologize for."

An often-repeated rallying cry from Santorum on the campaign trail has been that he would not apologize for America. He has been critical of President Obama for apologizing what U.S. military officials say was an accidental burning of Korans by soldiers in Afghanistan last month.

The difference, the former Pennsylvania senator seemed to indicate, is that the Koran burning was accidental, while the massacre in southern Afghanistan was not.

One U.S soldier is in custody for the shooting, though accounts from Afghan villagers maintain that a group of soldiers were involved. The Obama administration has promised a thorough investigation and vowed to hold accountable everyone involved.

Meanwhile, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul released this statement on the civilian killings in Afghanistan: "Gov. Romney believes the killings are reprehensible and shares the anguish of the victims' families. These acts by one soldier are not representative of the courageous and honorable conduct of our armed forces. That soldier should be held to account after a full and rapid investigation, and we must be clear that America stands with the Afghan people, not against them."