Rick Santorum Rises To The Top: Rick Santorum did not attract much attention a few weeks ago. On 15 December, the former Pennsylvania Senator has attracted about 20 people, as well as two reporters, an event the city of Sac city, Iowa. Later, in a coffee shop in Holstein, there were few more journalists and voters, but little enthusiasm. That night, Santorum was far from the middle of the stage a GOP debate in Sioux City.
Three weeks later, after he finished second, just eight votes behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus, the mood was different. A crowd of supporters packed a ballroom in Stoney Creek Inn here, waving signs, chanting "we collect Rick" and singing "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America." Events happening throughout last week attracted similar crowds and excitement, which shows a marked increase in support for Santorum following his so-called "surge" in the polls. Some Iowa voters said his results improved polling gave them more confidence that he was a strong candidate worthy of their votes. Katy Kauffman, a teacher of 48 years, who lives in suburban Des Moines, said after the event that she was elated when results started rolling. She was standing near the front of the camera, which was warm and packed with supporters. Organizers later asked them to lower their scores, in order not to impede the view of the cameras of the podium. Kauffman has caucused and voted in Iowa before, but she has never volunteered for a campaign or served as a captain caucus, the person who steps up to talk about their favorite candidate before the caucus vote. Did those things to Santorum this year, he said, because he felt inspired to support it. Not "I can think of nobody better than him," he said. Not "really can think of nobody better than him in the country, not just people who are running." Judging by the crowd that drew and members of the media who swarmed to cover its events, others were drawn to him as well in the last days of the Iowa campaign. On Monday, in an appearance in a position of a chain of pizza in Boone, Iowa, there were so many supporters in attendance that many paid to external sections of the restaurant. Couldn't see Santorum where crowded and he could only hear when he began to speak at a near scream. When Santorum visited Sioux City, Iowa, on Sunday, the pastor, who introduced came close to tears while talking about the need to change the direction of the country. Men and women stood on chairs and tables to see it. One woman said "amen" almost every time that Santorum finished a sentence. Later that day in Orange Rapids, Iowa, supporters watched raptly as Santorum spoke about abortion. The applicant is firmly opposed to abortion and says that the issue is more important to him, but it is discussed more frequently when appearing in front of evangelicals that he does elsewhere. Those voters, especially, often became solemn as he argued that the future of the country is hanging in the balance. "It is so sad," one woman said to another, looking solemn.Santorum prides himself on taking questions and giving answers verbose in response--until there are none left, and continued to hold hourlong question-and-answer sessions with voters to caucus night.If his strategy will work beyond Iowa remains to be seen, but certainly speak up here. There were a couple of things he mentioned in every stump speech without fail: its small staff Roadshow, the number of speeches that he had done already-a number in the decade with 370, he says-and the phrase "you can buy Iowans." Santorum's Campaign Manager, Michael Biundo, told reporters Tuesday night that the candidate's message will not change as he moved to New Hampshire, the State that will hold the first primary election on 10 January. "Things changed two weeks ago and it just keeps building from there," he said.
