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WASHINGTON, D.C., May 3, 2012, LifeSiteNews.com) –  Although Rick Santorum ended his presidential campaign nearly a month ago, he has not been quick to endorse presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, holding off until the former Massachusetts governor gives him ironclad guarantees that he will govern as a pro-life, pro-family president.

The two former rivals are to meet on Friday to discuss how they will work together to defeat Barack Obama in the general election.

Santorum’s biggest demand, now as during the campaign, is that Romney uproot the president’s health care plan, which was in part modeled on Romney’s own health care legislation from his time as governor. “We want to make sure he doesn’t replace it with any kind of mandate,” Hogan Gidley, a Santorum adviser, said.

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Santorum also wants to ensure that Romney will accept a conservative platform at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August.

“Rick just wants to have a candid, open conversation about making sure the folks in the 11 states that voted for him, and the conservative movement, have a voice in the Romney campaign,” Gidley said.

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Other presidential hopefuls have already pledged their assistance to Romney for the fall.

Former presidential hopeful and Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann endorsed Romney this afternoon in Portsmouth, Virginia, alongside Governor Bob McDonnell, a likely vice presidential contender. She said, “I think for all of America, this is a very simple proposition this November: President Barack Obama or President Mitt Romney? Very easy.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman have endorsed Romney since leaving the race, although Perry initially supported Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich, who suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, said Romney was preferable to four more years of the current administration. “This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical, leftist president in American history,” he stated.

“The gap is as wide as anytime in American history,” he said. “I would argue that it’s wider than the gap between Reagan and Carter.”

However, Romney also suffers a yawning enthusiasm gap with his party’s base. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, now the president of American Values, told LifeSiteNews.com that pro-life, pro-family activists “provide the passion and hard work that are key to GOP election success. It is almost impossible to win without them.”

He said Romney’s “VP selection, party platform, and acceptance speech” could set the tone to reconcile the party. 

Republican political strategist Richard Viguerie of ConservativeHQ.com added another important consideration: “Conservative and Tea Party activists want one of their own as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate – someone who has championed their cause and been proudly identified with them, not someone who has just learned to mouth the right sound bites.”

As of this writing, the most popular vice presidential contender in Viguerie’s online poll has been Rand Paul, whose father, Ron Paul, is still seeking the GOP nomination.

Meanwhile, a more scientific poll conducted by Reuters found that most Republicans want Rick Santorum as Romney’s running mate. Senator Marco Rubio finished second with 17 percent, next to Santorum’s 18 percent.

“It would make sense for Romney to make the first move,” Viguerie said, “to extend a hand to his rivals to try to heal some of the wounds his relentlessly negative campaign opened, and to show that he intends to govern as a conservative.”

“To get their support, Mitt Romney must take concrete action to show he will actually produce the conservative government that Gingrich advocated.”