Santorum launches column for 'birther' website

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has taken a job as a columnist for World Net Daily, a conservative website best known for articles advancing "birther" conspiracy theories about President Obama.

The former Pennsylvania senator will write a weekly column appearing on Mondays. Other writers for the site include actor Chuck Norris and fellow 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

The site made waves last year when founder Joseph Farah told NBC News he was unconvinced by the president's long-form birth certificate. Farah told the network he paid for private detectives to travel to Hawaii in an effort to discredit the president's claims of having been born in the United States, and conferred with real estate mogul Donald Trump on the issue.

Santorum's first column urges the Senate to vote down the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Santorum, whose daughter, Bella, suffers from Trisomy 18, a rare genetic disorder, argues the treaty "will do nothing to enhance the status of people with disabilities in the United States."

Last week, Santorum said he remains "open" to again seeking the Republican presidential nomination, after finishing second to Mitt Romney earlier this year.

“I’m open to it, yeah,” Santorum told the Weekly Standard. “I think there’s a fight right now as to what the soul of the Republican party’s going to be and the conservative movement, and we have something to say about that. I think from our battle, we’re not going to leave the field.”

Santorum prevailed in 11 of the Republican primary contests, and the former lawmaker pointed out that number was equal to the races Ronald Reagan won in the 1976 GOP primary. Reagan went on to win the 1980 Republican nomination and serve two terms as president.

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