Santorum Open to VP Slot, Says He'll Do 'Whatever Necessary' to Help Country
Rick Santorum has shown he is a tireless campaigner and is the number one choice of evangelical voters. Now the former Pennsylvania senator is saying he is open to the idea of filling the nation's number two slot if his fellow GOP front-runner secures the party's nomination.
In a Monday interview with CBN's David Brody, when Santorum was asked if he would consider running alongside Mitt Romney as the vice presidential nominee, he gave an affirmative reply.
"Of course," Santorum told Brody. "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."
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"I've been working every single day," he added. "My wife and my kids, we're just battling 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."
Brody pressed Santorum a little further, asking, "So you're keeping your options open?"
"I'll do whatever is necessary to help our country," responded Santorum.
But in spite or what may or may not happen between now and August, Santorum and Romney are still making their case why one is more qualified than the other to take on President Obama in November. Santorum won Louisiana's primary, while Romney claimed the Illinois primary earlier last week.
Romney still commands a significant delegate lead with 565 delegates, compared with Santorum's 256. The remaining Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, have 141 and 66 delegates, respectively.
Notwithstanding the actual delegate numbers, the Santorum campaign is not showing signs of slowing down in the least. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Santorum try to make the case that some of the delegate math was not correct.
"I don't agree with the delegate math that the Romney campaign's putting out there," Santorum said.
However, the next two months will most likely produce a clearer picture, and from the looks of things, Romney will still retain a significant advantage. The upcoming April primaries in the Northeast should favor Romney and Santorum will most likely fare better when the contest turn toward states more favorable to social conservatives such as North Carolina where a marriage amendment is on the ballot.
The former Pennsylvania senator came after Romney on Sunday in a campaign appearance in Wisconsin, calling the former Massachusetts governor the "worst Republican in the country" to take on Obama over Obamacare. Santorum's heated exchange with a New York Times reporter caused him to use profane language. He yelled, "It's bulls**t," saying the paper was distorting his words.
The next round of primaries is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, when Wisconsin, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., voters go to the polls.
