The Hill News

Rick Santorum said Mitt Romney's offer of a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry was typical of the former Massachusetts governor.

During a Republican presidential debate on Saturday night, Romney offered to bet Rick Perry $10,000 over a dispute concerning the so-called individual mandate in Romney's  book. The offer quickly provoked criticism from Romney's opponents in the presidential field and the Democratic National Committee.

"I think it's typical of the responses of he gives on a lot of issues which is he tries to slough it off," Santorum said Monday on Laura Ingraham's radio show.

Santorum also said it was important not to pick a candidate whose "personal and professional record is going to be the focus of the campaign."

In the same interview, Santorum, who has repeatedly called to attention that he was elected to the Senate in Pennsylvania as a conservative, touched on the last election he ran in, in 2006, which he lost to no! w-Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) 59 percent to 41 percent. Santorum said there were a "host" of issues going against conservative Republicans at time, particularly the U.S. presence in the Middle East.