Only days after Mike Huckabee called it quits at Fox News in order to officially explore his White House options, 2012 GOP runner-up Rick Santorum announced a gathering in DC of supporters and aides.
The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania came closer than any other to knocking off the juggernaut campaign of 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, a battle which was fought much longer than any expected.
Before Romney ultimately clinched enough delegate votes to secure the nomination, Santorum had racked up wins in 11 state primaries and over 4 million votes – a feat unprecedented since by an underdog challenger since Reagan’s first bid in 1976.
Although few doubt the bonafides of a second Santorum candidacy and retooled appeal to a working-class base, the 2016 cycle will pose unpredictable challenges among the GOP field given the historic number of candidates expected to enter the fray.
The most obvious speculation is whether a Santorum candidacy can find sufficient oxygen in a field also occupied by Mike Huckabee, both of whom won the Iowa Caucuses in their respective cycles.
Should both of them finally opt to enter the race, some analysts predict they will split the social conservative base of the Republican Party thus paving a more sure path to victory for a more moderate candidate like Jeb Bush.
