Is Rick Santorum gaining steam in Iowa?

  The Iowa Caucus is fast approaching and will be here before we know it. The only things we know for sure about Iowa is that we have no idea who is going to win, and we know it most likely will not be Mitt Romney. Iowans appear to be looking for an alternative to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich appeared to be their choice a couple of weeks ago. This puzzled me because I have always heard that Iowa was an Evangelical state and it would seem that Gingrich’s personal baggage would eliminate him from the minds of many of the voters of Iowa; now that he is dropping in the Iowa polls it seems likely that this is probably one of the main reasons why.

  Ron Paul is the benefactor of the sudden backlash against Newt Gingrich, and again it would seem to me that his libertarian social views would be a negative in the minds of Iowa voters and could work against him in the end. So where will the voters of Iowa go if they reject the top three candidates? Could it be possible that Rick Santorum is starting to gain steam in Iowa?

  Earlier this month Sarah Palin refused to rule out Rick Santorum stating:

“If voters start shifting gears and deciding they want ideological consistency, then they’re going to start paying attention to say, Rick Santorum”

  This was a veiled reference to the constantly shifting positions of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, although I would argue that Ron Paul has also remained ideologically consistent–I just don’t know if his ideology is what the voters of Iowa are looking for in a president. And earlier today Rick Santorum picked up the endorsements of two prominent Iowa Evangelical leaders and his campaign seems to be gaining momentum in Iowa even if it hasn’t yet shown up in the polls.

Santorum has for months worked diligently in Iowa, campaigning  county-by-county in the traditional way, and veteran Republicans said he was the  one to watch move late.

“His support is starting to get as passionate as with Ron Paul,” said Craig  Robinson, who writes the IowaRepublican.com and previously worked for the state  GOP, following the Sioux City debate last Thursday.

While not translating much in Iowa polls, Santorum’s crowds have been growing  larger in the last two weeks

  This may be too little too late for Rick Santorum who is not well funded, but he has been spending virtually all of his time in the state and maybe it is going to start to pay off. One thing is for sure, a good showing for Rick Santorum in Iowa has the potential to shake up the GOP race because–as Sarah Palin alluded to–voters are getting sick and tired of politicians who hold their fingers to the wind in order to decide where they stand on the issues and  Rick Santorum has been nothing if not consistent over the years. You may not agree with all his positions, but at least you know where he truly stands on the issues.

  Rick Santorum’s hardline stance on social issues may hurt him with the independent voters who he would need to win over in order to have a chance at winning; the question would be, how many people feel that social issues are more important than the economy or foreign policy? With the state of the economy I believe this is the number one issue and trumps all others.

  The media has been trying to tell us that the GOP race is a two person race, but it is evident by Ron Paul’s emergence that it is not. And while time may be running out for the second tier candidates not one vote has been counted and the race is still wide open.