The Hill's Niall Stanage has the scoop:
Rick Santorum is organizing an event at this month’s Republican National Convention to rally conservatives in support of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, a key Santorum aide has told The Hill.
Now.... here's the inevitable catch: Santorum is clearly angling for something in return.
But Santorum has not yet received any promise from the Romney team, even in private, that he will be asked to deliver an address from the podium in Tampa.
The former Pennsylvania senator’s long-time senior strategist John Brabender warned that conservatives would be “quite disturbed” if they felt that Santorum was not accorded the prominence they believe he deserves at the quadrennial gathering.
Santorum has seemed, to put it mildly, bitter ever since losing to Romney.
In his concession speech, he broke precedent and didn't once congratulate or utter the name "Mitt Romney."
Then, it took him nearly a month to actually endorse the presumptive GOP nominee, and he only did it in the 13th paragraph of a late-night email to supporters.
Joe Scarborough summed it up pretty well, at the time:
"If somebody gave me this type of endorsement and it were my convention coming up, I would tell them they would have a speaking role but it would be in that cage where the protesters are gonna be eleven blocks away.
I wouldn't let a guy like this anywhere near the stage, and I would let him know that right now. Say 'You just screwed yourself, buddy. Now you've got a couple of months if you want to play ball, but if you don't, that's fine. You want to be a rebel-rouser, go ahead, but it's my party now'."
.... this is bush league. If you don't want to endorse him, don't endorse him. That's fine. People will respect him for not endorsing him. Again, this is like Obama on gay marriage. Don't try to have it both ways. Don't endorse in the thirteenth paragraph. Be a man.
