Santorum Mocks Romney for Staying Away From Court Protests Rick Santorum used the backdrop of the Supreme Court's hearings on the health care law Monday to slam Mitt Romney as a compromised candidate who all but inspired President Obama to overhaul the nation's health care system. Standing in front of the court after the first of three days of arguments about the constitutionality of the law Republicans call "Obamacare," Mr. Santorum mocked Mr. Romney for campaigning across the continent, in San Diego, instead of showing up at the court to protest. "There's one candidate who is uniquely disqualified to make the case" against Mr. Obama's health care law, Mr. Santorum declared as supporters of the law chanted "Health care is a right!" in the background. It's why I'm here and he's not. The accusation was a reprise of comments over the weekend in which Mr. Santorum angrily said Mr. Romney is "the worst Republican in the country" to go up against Mr. Obama on the need to repeal the health care law. Trailing badly in the chase for delegates as he battles Mr. Romney, Mr. Santorum is trying to tap into the intense anger among conservatives about the health care law. He is trying to make the case that there is little philosophical difference between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney. But that task has proved tricky for Mr. Santorum, who seemed to suggest last week that if Mr. Romney were the nominee, voters would be better off sticking with Mr. Obama in the White House. Mr. Santorum later said his words were taken out of context and denied that he would ever support Mr. Obama over a Republican. On Monday, Mr. Santorum said he did not regret calling Mr. Romney "the worst Republican" on the health care issue, saying that Mr. Romney's support in Massachusetts for health care mandates - the heart of the case at the Supreme Court - would make it impossible for him to wage an effective campaign against the president in the fall. He's the worst candidate to go against Barack Obama. He can't make it the argument," Mr. Santorum said. If he makes it the argument, the Obama machine will turn it right back on him. The Romney campaign responded forcefully on Monday. "Senator Santorum is becoming increasingly shrill as his campaign hopes fade," said Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney. 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. On Sunday, Mr. Santorum used an expletive and criticized a New York Times reporter for seeking clarification about the "worst Republican" comments. Asked about his exchange with the reporter, Jeff Zeleny, Mr. Santorum said he had no regrets. "I don't regret taking on a New York Times reporter who was out of line," Mr. Santorum said. If you are conservative and you haven't taken on a New York Times reporter, you aren't worth your salt. Mr. Santorum's campaign used the exchange Sunday in an e-mailed fund-raising appeal on Monday. Mr. Romney was scheduled to hold a campaign event Monday morning in California. But even as he stayed thousands of miles away from Washington, his campaign tried to shift the spotlight to Mr. Obama's absence, not his. In a news release titled "Billions of Reasons to Hide From "Obamacare," " Mr. Romney's campaign accused Mr. Obama and his staff of not celebrating the second anniversary of the signing of the health care law last Friday. Mr. Obama was in South Korea for a nuclear summit meeting over the weekend. "Last week, President Obama was nowhere to be found on "Obamacare's" second birthday - and who can blame him with the law's billions of dollars in new taxes about to hit the economy?" said Andrea Saul, a spokesman for Mr. Romney. As president, Mitt Romney will repeal this disastrous law and implement a federalist, free-market health care plan in its place.