Santorum keeps door open for vice presidential bid
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."
