What could Santorum demand from Romney to drop out?

But some conservatives, including Sarah Palin, have voiced hope that the nomination isn’t determined until the party’s August convention.

If the race still hasn’t been decided by then, it’s possible that Santorum could broker a deal that once might have been thought unimaginable: forfeiting his delegates to Romney in exchange for a spot on the bottom of the ticket.

Henry Barbour, a GOP strategist who backs Romney and who is the nephew of Republican power broker Haley Barbour, has said that Santorum should be considered on the short list. Santorum, though, has ranked behind tea party hero Marco Rubio in surveys of Republicans’ picks for VP…

Mark McKinnon, the media message man who worked for the campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain, said there’s “no way” Romney would pick Santorum as a running mate. “That would absolutely ensure defeat in November,” McKinnon said in an email.