"I know why Obama doesn't want me to face him but I just think it's outrageous and a terrible dirty trick at the last hour, by the way, late in the afternoon on the day before the election, maybe hoping no one would notice, they start sending out calls to Democrats, union members telling them to go into the Republican primary and vote against Mitt Romney," he said.
"This is a new low for his campaign and that's saying something," Romney told Fox News
Santorum told Fox News on Monday night that he is trying to attract the Democratic voters he'll need in a general election campaign. He added that nothing he's said in his robo-call is any worse than the campaign Romney has run.
"When he runs a robo-call of my voice from four years ago saying good things about him, that's not a low moment, and when I run a call basically saying, calling Democrats that are eligible to vote here, to vote for us, that's a low (moment)?" he said.
"And of course, you know, it's interesting that he criticizes me for attracting Democrats because one of the things that the Governor Romney's people say is, oh, he can't attract Democrats. Well, guess what? We will wait and see. I think we can."
The robocall going around Monday says Democrats should send "a loud message" to Romney by voting for Santorum. The message says it's supported by "hard-working Democratic men and women" and paid for by the Santorum campaign.
Indeed, Democrats have made no bones about their efforts to force a Romney loss in the GOP primary. The pro-President Obama super PAC, Moveon.org and the campaign itself have all run ads against Romney in the Wolverine State.
On Monday, liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos wrote that a "million-dollar anti-Romney effort (with much of that money coming from Democrats and progressives) has dragged Romney back down to where Santorum can catch him."
He added that "the big-money campaign" aims to drive down Romney's numbers among independents and the Michigan Democratic Party is also engaged in getting Democrats to cast votes for Santorum, "reminding them that casting such votes in no way prohibits them from voting in Democratic contests later in the year."
"The quicker Romney can transition to 'general election' mode, the quicker he can move to the center and start repairing the damage. And as long as Santorum drives the debate, he helps galvanize base Democratic constituencies. ... There is no downside to dragging this contest out a month or two longer," Kos wrote.
