Is Rick Santorum ready for a presidential bid reboot?

This article is the 12th in the White House Wednesday series by The World and Everything in It looking at potential 2016 candidates for president. Earlier installments profiled Republicans Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, and Mitt Romney, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Bernie Sanders.

A prominent 2012 Republican presidential candidate might be gearing up for another run. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the runner-up to Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention. The GOP frequently seems to nominate the candidate who’s next in line. Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney all held that spot and went on to win presidential nominations.

Santorum’s last presidential bid started well. He edged Romney to take first place in the Iowa caucuses. As he stepped to the podium after his big win in that first-in-the-nation contest, Santorum had two words for his supporters: “Game on!” He went on to win 10 more states, but it wasn’t enough, and soon the game was over.

It’s sounding more and more like Santorum might be ready for a reboot. Appearing last month on Salem Radio Network’s The Hugh Hewitt Show, the senator talked about the public’s rising focus on national security.

“As someone who’s looking at the 2016 presidential race and looking at the field and seeing really no one there who has any kind of national security experience, it certainly encourages me to take a more serious look at that as someone who’s been engaged in this field,” he said.

The two-term senator served eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In the last two years, he actively promoted conservative causes and even ran his own faith-based movie company, Echolight Studios.

He also wrote a book called Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works, in which he took his own party to task, making the case that Republicans aren’t doing enough to connect with blue-collar voters.

“We’re out there talking as if everybody who’s a voter is like us—high-energy, type-A people who want to reach for the brass ring,” Santorum said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year. “Well, you know what, we need folks like that, and we need to have policies that encourage people to do that. But … we also need folks who are going to work 9-to-5 and go home and coach Little League.”

Santorum is clearly mulling another presidential bid. The question now: Can he trade his 2012 silvermedal for gold like many GOP contenders before him, or could 2016 be the year Republicans break protocol and let a candidate cut in line?

Part of Santorum’s success in 2012 was due to the weak field of Republican candidates. The conservative base of the party was less than enthusiastic about nominating Mitt Romney. Many voters were looking for a Romney alternative, and Santorum’s negatives were fewer than those of the only other viable candidate, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Santorum’s outspoken support for family values also helped his success. He did well with Christian and social conservatives in the party. The same constituency backed Mike Huckabee four years earlier. Both of them did well in the South and in rural states like Iowa and Kansas, where faith and traditional family values are a higher priority than in most other parts of the country.

The key for Santorum in 2016 will be to broaden his appeal beyond social conservatives. Electability is the single biggest issue primary voters decide on. Right or wrong, if voters think another candidate is more likely to win the White House for the party, they will give him or her the nomination.

The field will be more crowded in 2016. It will include a big establishment Republican or two, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would electrify tea party voters, and other interesting candidates like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have appeal at both ends of the party. While Santorum may very well run in 2016, he likely will have a hard time getting traction among other candidates with more star power.

Listen to Nick Eicher and Kent Covington discuss Rick Santorum’s presidential chances on The World and Everything in It: