Romney Fights Etch a Sketch Image in Bid to Seal Race

21, 2012 - Newt Gingrich whipped out an Etch a Sketch during a campaign stop in Lake Charles, La., on Wednesday. He then handed the toy a child in the audience and said "she could now be a presidential candidate." (/CBS News) Correction: Clarification:

WASHINGTON -- It's hardly a secret that presidential candidates tack toward their base over the course of a primary and shift toward moderation once that primary is over. What's rare is when a campaign admits as much

Santorum held up one of the red toys at a rally in Mandeville, Louisiana, and told supporters, "You are not looking at someone who is the Etch A Sketch candidate." Santorum adviser Alice Stewart appeared outside a town hall meeting Romney held in

"I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign," he said, explaining why the fight for conservative primary voters has not pushed Romney too far to the right. "Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch a Sketch. You can kind of shake it up

Throughout the presidential campaign, we have been lampooned by the pale-pastel wing of the party for not coalescing around the Romney campaign with alacrity.