Santorum keeps door open for vice presidential bid

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum addresses supporters at a campaign rally in Fond du Lac, Wis., Sunday, March 25, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Amid a growing sense of inevitability that Mitt Romney will become the Republican nominee for president, Rick Santorum said Monday he would consider being the former Massachusetts governor's number two.

In a Monday interview with CBN's David Brody, Santorum said "of course" he would consider joining Romney on the ticket.

"If he [Romney] for some reason asks you to be the Vice Presidential candidate on his ticket? I know, after it's all said and done. Would you even consider it?" Brody asked.

"Of course," Santorum said. "I mean, look. I would do in this race as I always say, this is the most important race in our country's history. I'm going to do everything I can."

"I've been working every single day," he added. "My wife and my kids, we're just busting our tail, because we know their future and all of our children's future is at stake in this election and I don't want to be the guy who has to sit with my granddaughter, 20 years from now, and tell stories about an America where people once were free. I don't want to have that conversation."

"So, you're keeping your options open," Brody prompted.

"I'll do whatever is necessary to help our country," Santorum said.

According to CBS News estimates, Romney leads Santorum in the delegate count by more than 300 - with 554 projected delegates to Santorum's 241 projected delegates. Romney has also in recent weeks secured several key endorsements from the GOP establishment, including from prominent Florida Republican and former Gov. Jeb Bush.

Following a double-digit win over Romney in Saturday's Louisiana primary, however, the former Pennsylvania senator does not appear to be ceding the competition to his rival anytime soon.

In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, Santorum disputed the Romney camp's delegate estimates arguing that "there's a lot of bad math there" and that his campaign is "in much, much better shape than what the numbers that are out there suggest."

"I don't agree with the delegate math that the Romney campaign's putting out there," Santorum said.

And in an appearance on the steps of the Supreme Court Monday, Santorum brushed off calls from party leadership to end his candidacy so that Republicans can focus on the general election. Santorum was at the high court to criticize President Obama's signature health care law as the justices were in midst of hearing three days of oral arguments about the constitutionality of the law, officially known as the Affordable Care Act.

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave it to the 'insignificant' voters of America in the remaining primaries to step forward and challenge the 'significant' people who are speaking here in Washington, D.C.," Santorum said, in a sarcastic tone. "The significant people in my mind are the people in Louisiana on Saturday who significantly gave us a big win, and we believe as we go forward there will be a lot of significant voters out there who want to have their voices heard from the folks here in Washington, and the Romney campaign who don't believe they should be heard throughout the course of this primary."

[rightontarget]

"Santorum keeps door open for vice presidential bid"
*********************************************************

Of course he does. LOL! And that door's gonna hang open for a long, long time. Can't you tell by the look on the guy's face that he sees himself as the "second comming". He is a righteous "warrior" and would jump at the chance to be in any kind of "authoritive" position. Dream on Ricky.

[Lindag10]

Does Rick think Romney is DUMB enough to want him as a running mate? It'd be like McCain and Palin all over again and destroy any chance Romney had to actually WIN the election.

[nirak2-2009]

Who in hell would want him

[expatriate2]

What difference does it make? The GOP is simply looking for a sacrifical lamb with the least to lose.

[tryfreedomUS]

Let's be honest. Santorum is not going to be the VP. He shouldn't be. He's controversial and has very limited support outside of a few social conservatives. Romney will be the nominee and we need to have his VP support him and balance his flaws. It can't be Rubio, Christie, or Daniels...and certainly not Santorum.

Why and who should it be? See here for my full analysis: http://www.tryfreedom.us/2012/03/21/who-should-be-the-republican-vice-presidential-nominee/

[zombietimeshare]

If by 'keeping the door open' he means 'dropping an anvil on his foot' then sure.

[dreamymiss100]

LMAO why would anyone even ask that question? Santorum thinks Romney is the worst republican to go up against Obama. Romney's not gonna be knocking on his door.

[Crankypaul]

The amazing thing will be if Romney actually DOES choose him! The way the Republican circus has been going it wouldn't surprise me one bit~!

And politically Romney would do himself well to embrace the fool. That way he can scam the religious crowd into thinking he cares about them too.

[WiseAsOwl]

At this point, Romney has my vote.. BUT, if he selected Santorum as a running mate, I'd wash my hands of both of them... Besides, Santorum has dirtied his nest several times, in relation to Romney.. If somebody asks Romney about the possibilities of him selecting Santorum as a running mate, I'll bet that Romney won't be able to keep a straight face...

[metteyya]

The REAL QUESTION is whether the Palinization (number one too moderate but support ticket because of number two) of the majority of GOP primary voters lead to victory in November? I think not. Most conservatives will stay home rather than go for the VP trick the GOP establishment keeps playing on them with moderates at the top of the ticket that resulted in loser campaigns of John McCain and Bob Dole.

Only when the Republicans fully embrace their conservative philosophy with candidates like Reagan and Bush do they win, and it seems like the only people who realize this fact are the conservative majority of voters in the Republican Party.

Appealing to "independents" with moderate candidates while killing the enthusiasm to vote of the conservative base equals a net loss in votes for the GOP. Why is this so hard for the GOP establishment to figure out?

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

Reagan, are you kidding me! The two highest average monthly unemployment rates since 1948 was 1982 9.7% and 1983 9.6%. I don't think America could handle any more of the conservatives like him and Baby Bush.

You can check out the info http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000