SANTORUM: Well, let me just get to that. First — the first thing I want to do, we’re here in beautiful Las Vegas, and where the next primary caucus state is going to be here in Nevada, where I think we’re going to have a little different result than what we saw in Florida.

But — but I first want to congratulate Governor Romney. He — he ran a very spirited race. And he is to be congratulated for his — his resounding victory in the state of Florida. So congratulations to Governor Romney.

And let me just make one side comment, because — it’s not a side comment to me. It’s a very important comment to me. I just want to say to — to everyone on behalf of Karen and of all of our family, you know, when we had to jump off the campaign trail to — to care for our — our daughter, Bella, it was a very trying time.

And, you know, this has been a, you know, pretty tough campaign. And the campaigns and things in politics have gotten pretty nasty, on both sides of the aisle, and certainly across the aisle. And I just have to say for — on behalf of our family and — and seeing the outpouring of support from folks, frankly, on both sides of the aisle — and from across this country of all political stripes — toward me and Karen, and particularly to our daughter, Bella, I just want to say to everyone, thank you for that support and for those prayers.

Bella had a tough couple of days. But she has — she has turned around. She is recovering. And she is going to go home tomorrow from the hospital.

So — so thank you. Well, thank you.

(UNKNOWN): This is from the volunteers and the staff here in Nevada. It’s a big giant stuffed elephant…

SANTORUM: Thank you very, very much. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much for that. And it is — it’s great to be back here on the campaign trail, talking about the important issues of the day. And if that’s — if there’s one message that I think we got from the campaign in Florida is that Republicans can do better. We can do better than this. We can do better than the — the discussion and the — and the dialogue and the — and the accusations that were going on in the state of Florida. And — and, really, this campaign, you know, went downhill.

SANTORUM: I went to Florida and, of course, participated in the debates. I thought we did a pretty good job in those debates.

And while we didn’t get into the melee of the negativism, as I said at that debate in Jacksonville on Thursday night, the American public does not want to see two or three candidates get into a mud — you know, a mud-wrestling match where everybody walks away dirty and not in a position to be able to represent our party proudly.

We’re going to have differences on the issues. And we need to talk about those differences on the issues. But what we saw in the last few weeks in the state of Florida is not something that’s going to help us win this election.

We need to — and I said it, and I’ll say it again. Governor Romney, you have every right to go out into the private sector and — and — and use the gifts that God has given you and the opportunities that you had and that you made for yourself and your hard work, and make all the money that — that you can and do it in a way that helps our economy, and certainly helps you and your family. And I’m not going to criticize you for doing that, because that’s how capitalism works, and I’m all for it.

And, Speaker Gingrich, you went out and you took the talents that you have — and they’re considerable — and you took the — the effort and the hard work and the knowledge and experience you got from — from working at the highest levels of government, and went out and worked with companies who had concerns about a government that was trying to run over them in many cases. And there’s nothing wrong with that, and I congratulate you for the work that you did in support of those companies who — who deserve representation, as they are entitled to under the First Amendment of our Constitution. And I’m not going to criticize you for that. All right?

But let’s put those issues behind us, and let’s focus on the real issue, which is defeating Barack Obama.

And we’re not — we’re not going to do that by mudslinging. We’re going to do it by talking about the issues that people at their kitchen tables are talking about. They’re talking about their homes that are being foreclosed on. They’re talking about jobs that are not available or the promotions that are not available or the — or the opportunities to be able to start a business without the government breathing down their neck.

That’s what people want to hear about. And they want to know what your plans are, and they want to know how you contrast yourself with President Obama when it comes to that. Well, that’s what this campaign has been about for me. And that’s what it’s going to be about here.

Tomorrow, we’re going to give a speech on Romneycare and Obamacare. It’s not…

We’re going to talk about the issues that are important to the people of Nevada, important to the people of Colorado, and Minnesota, and Missouri, the states that are up next in this — in this next go- round, in the next week. That’s what the issues that — that — that, again, we need a candidate who can get up on the issues of health care and draw clear contrasts with President Obama.

We need someone who can get up on the issue of cap-and-trade and government using environmentalism to be able to crush the businesses of our country and draw a clear contrast with President Obama.

And we need someone on the issue of — of Wall Street and the bailouts and all of the — all of that — here in Nevada, they’ve suffered. They’ve suffered while the folks — while the folks on Wall Street have prospered, the people here who — who had the — had the loans that are underwater continue to suffer while those who were buying and selling for profit bad paper continued to get bailed out by Washington, D.C., and approved of by Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. All right?

So we need someone who can draw that contrast. We need someone who can be a conservative nominee. And you know what? In Florida, Newt Gingrich had his opportunity. He came out of the state of South Carolina. He came out with — with a big — with a big win and a lot of money. And he said, “I’m going to be the conservative alternative. I’m going to be the anti-Mitt.” And it didn’t work. He became the issue. We can’t allow our nominee to be the issue in the campaign.

So I say — I say to the people of Nevada and, in fact, to the people across this country, if you want a strong, principled conservative who’s not going to be the issue in the campaign, who’s going to make Barack Obama the issue in this campaign, please vote for me and help us out.

Thank you. God bless. Thank you. Thank you.