Former US Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) told a group of bloggers at a Heritage Foundation luncheon Tuesday that he is still "looking at [a presidential bid] very seriously." This is hardly a bombshell development, as Santorum admits he's been "candid" for some time about the possibility. Various media outlets reported the former Senator's interest in a White House bid throughout 2010. Santorum said his motivation for running would be readily apparent to those who have followed his time in public life: "My whole career has answered the question of why I might want to run," he said. "It's about strengthening America economically, socially, and from a national security perspective." Santorum said he doesn't fully embrace the conventional view of those three elements represent separate pillars of conservatism. "They're all linked. They're not three legs of a stool, they are one united platform on which we stand." Speaking of his presidential ambitions, Santorum said he feels no rush to toss his hat into the ring. "I have some time to keep testing the waters because nobody else is out there making a splash just yet either," he said, referencing the fact that no Republican has yet officially announced a 2012 run. "I'm willing to go out there and give it a shot. [I'm in] a process of discerning how realistic it is," he explained, citing fundraising questions and the need to get a sense of the level of public support he may garner in states like Iowa -- which he's visited regularly over the last 12 months. The most important bloc of support Santorum said he is gauging is an "eight vote" demographic: His wife and seven children.
