Former PA Sen. Rick Santorum tells ABC's TopLine he's "absolutely" taking a look at running in 2012, and if he does, it looks like he can be counted on for doing some of the dirty work against prospective candidate, Sarah Palin.
The TopLine crew asked Santorum if he thought Palin was qualified to be President:
"I'll let the people decide that. I think, you know, she's done a lot to draw attention to herself that's positive.
She's done some things that, you know, certainly are going to cause her to have to do some explaining if she runs for president."
(ea) Santorum didn't elaborate on what needed explanation, but Palin's abrupt resignation is a prime candidate.
Back in August, Santorum noted:
"Her biggest fans that I know is my wife, Karen (ph), and she loves her, and she felt really bad that she quit. She felt like, number one, it hurt her, it hurt Sarah.
And number two, it hurt women in politics. And although my wife is not an elected official, she was very much a part of my career and she was always trying to promote women in politics. And it looks like, you know, she couldn’t take it, and that’s not a good thing for women.
And you know, I’m — I’m speaking for my wife, not for me. I’m not — I’m not telling you how I feel about it. That’s how she feels about it, and I think that’s — that’s probably going to — going to hurt. It’s going to hurt her."
If Santorum's willing to hit Palin on the resignation thing during a 2012 primary, his presence would be welcomed by other candidates.
Also, there's Rick and Sarah's overlapping social credentials that might siphon off a few caucus-goers who were planning on voting for Palin.
