DES MOINES, Iowa – Low-polling Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum insists he isn’t really worried about his numbers or beating frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses.
The former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, who has visited each of the Iowa’s 99 counties at least once, told The Washington Examiner Monday that he’s competing for his own brand of voter – the ones seeking a more conservative alternative to the top two candidates – and not against the Establishment Republicans who lead the race.
The candidates Santorum said he hopes to beat aren’t Gingrich and Romney but Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
“The establishment primary is between Gingrich and Romney,” Santorum told The Examiner as campaign aides shuttled him to one of three campaign events he held Monday. “Then you have Ron Paul, who has his own primary. Then you have Bachmann, myself and Perry. And we are trying to win the conservative primary. We’ll see how I do among those three.”
Santorum’s candidacy has perplexed even the most seasoned political observer in Iowa, where the kind of retail politicking at which Santorum has labored so hard normally yields at least moderate popularity in the polls.
The Des Moines Register estimates that Santorum has made 248 appearances in Iowa compared to the 93 stops made by Gingrich and just 20 for Romney. Yet, Santorum is running at the rear of the pack.
Iowa conservatives, who are expected to dominate the Jan. 3 caucuses, are openly looking for an alternative to Romney, and have backed – and then dropped – both Bachmann and Perry. Gingrich is their new favorite. Yet, the evangelical groups have yet to embrace Santorum, one of the staunchest social conservatives running.
“He doesn’t seem to be resonating, at least as far as the polls are concerned,” University of Iowa political science professor Timothy Hagle said. Still, Santorum “could do a lot better than people are expecting,” because of his massive effort to meet voters here, he said.
Santorum has never risen above single digits. Nationally, he’s running sixth – in a field of seven – with just under 4 percent. In Iowa, he barely cracks 5 percent.
Gingrich, who just opened his first Iowa campaign office, is at 30 percent in recent Iowa polls while Romney, who has spent very little time campaigning here, has 18 percent. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who boasts a loyal and enthusiastic following, also garners about 18 percent.
Santorum said he can’t explain why his numbers are low, but he plans to stay in the race and to compete in New Hampshire and South Carolina if he does well in Iowa against Bachmann and Perry, who both show about 9 percent support in Iowa polls.
“What matters is not the polls. What matters is Election Day,” Santorum told The Examiner. “I’m confident if we get a spark here in Iowa, we will rise very quickly and do well in both of those other states.”
Santorum, traveling in Des Moines as part of his “Faith, Family and Freedom” tour, made light of his poll numbers to his supporters.
“I’m just counting on Iowa, Santorum said after an hour-long promotion of his conservative credentials. “People keep asking, when are you going to get your bump? I say January 3.”
