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WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum has raised speculation that he will run for president again in 2016.

“I’m certainly leaving the door open for that,” Santorum told NewsMaxTV late last week. “I’m making no commitments at this point, but we’re not doing anything inconsistent with running in 2016.’’

The former Pennsylvania senator blasted “the same advisors who botched these last two campaigns” for “saying, ‘Well, you know, since we can’t win with moderate Republicans, we have to now try to be liberal Republicans.'”

“We have not had a nominee that is willing to articulate a unified vision of what conservatism is” in 2008 and 2012, he said. “That's why we don't win.”

He confidently predicted, despite an attempt at rebranding the GOP as “inclusive” on social issues, that the next Republican presidential nominee will be “a strong, principled conservative.”

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That contrasts with the view of one of those advisors, Karl Rove of American Crossroads, who told George Stephanopoulos he could see the 2016 presidential candidate supporting a bill redefining marriage.

The 2012 election ended only five months ago, but candidates have been jockeying for position for the next political race since before election day.

U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are already running in undeclared presidential campaigns. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush are considered likely to enter the race, as well.

Santorum finished a distant third in the 2013 CPAC presidential poll, behind Paul and Rubio but ahead of Christie and 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

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In a possible preview of 2016, Rand Paul attacked Santorum last January as a “big government moderate” who is “a little over-eager to bomb countries” and may not be “maturely thinking through the process and the consequences of war.”

Santorum had just said he would favor U.S. airstrikes against the Iranian nuclear program.

Santorum made a surprisingly strong showing in 2012, winning nearly four million votes and 11 primaries despite sometimes being outspent by as much as four-to-one. After the primaries, Santorum was one of the few national Republicans to stand by Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, a pro-life stalwart.

Santorum also addressed a video clip of Planned Parenthood lobbyist Alisa LaPolt Snow defending infanticide during the interview.