Santorum Holding His Own in Iowa

(NewsCore) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum likes to joke about the time he held a meet-and-greet in Iowa and only one person showed up -- the local party chairman.

This week, he drew about 150 people to a question-and-answer session in Mason City, compared with 20 at a similar event in November. About 50 Iowans came out to see him at a Cedar Falls bakery, followed by 70 for a town-hall meeting in nearby Waterloo.

No Republican has logged more miles on the ground in Iowa than Santorum, and until recently, he had little to show for it. Now, in a race defined by rapid booms and busts, the one Republican left on the sidelines throughout is starting to experience a boomlet of his very own.

Even Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, doesn't think this late bump can propel him to the top spot in Tuesday's first-in-the-nation caucuses. Instead, he is aiming to win the race-within-the-race and emerge as the No. 1 choice of social-issues conservatives, up against Rep. Michele Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"By any estimation, finishing ahead of those two is a huge win for us, given the money and publicity that both of them have gotten and continue to get," Santorum said. "I think we'll become the conservative alternative, and if we become the conservative alternative, we'll have a lot of good states."

The latest survey of likely Iowa caucus-goers by Public Policy Polling found Santorum tied with Perry for fifth place, with both garnering 10 percent. A CNN/Time/ORC poll released Wednesday put Santorum in third place, behind only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Respondents in the PPP survey view Santorum more favorably than his rivals, which has been a leading indicator for other Republicans who have surged in the polls. He was also the leading No. 2 choice, another telling sign.

By his own count, Santorum has held more than 350 events in Iowa this year. He is also the only candidate to stage an event in each of its 99 counties, a feat Bachmann is racing around the state trying to match. He trades in local gossip and can recommend what to order at Scratch Cupcakery in Cedar Falls (either Red Velvet or Peanut Butter Cup).

Until recently, that effort amounted to single-digit support in most polls, good enough for sixth place, ahead of only former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has barely set foot in the state.

Buoyed by the recent attention, Santorum is encouraging Iowa Republicans to ignore national polls that show him trailing his rivals and send a message to the rest of the US.

"Don't defer your judgment to the national polls or the national pundits," he told the crowd at a bakery in Cedar Falls. "You can shock the world."