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Sen. Santorum campaigns to stand out in a tight field

Sen. Santorum campaigns to stand out in a tight field

Too many candidates, not enough exposure haunts race to party nomination

Four years after former U.S.

Senator Rick Santorum accepted a wave of support from Iowa caucusgoers, it’s a much harder road to navigate, and just as tiresome.

Santorum and his traveling team of two took a ten minute dinner break at Pizza Ranch on Monday, fitting in an interview and a plate of chicken and potatoes before speaking to a slightly larger Charles City audience than the one he first encountered in August.

It was his fifth town hall meeting of the day, and he had one more to make in Decorah before returning all the way down to Des Moines for the night. In the last month before the Iowa caucuses, Santorum is counting on these grassroot appearances to ride his next wave –– one that he hopes will send him on through the New Hampshire primary. But there’s a catch.

“One of the most common things I hear when I’m walking around Iowa is, ‘oh, I didn’t know you were running.’ That’s a concern.

You’ve got a lot to overcome,” Santorum said.

It’s not modesty or exaggeration: in the most recent Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa poll published last week, Santorum gathered just one percent of support from caucus-goers, behind “second stage” debate opponents like Carly Fiorina and John Kasich. Part of the problem, Santorum said, is just how big the Republican field has gotten.

“Not being on the main stage of the debates has made it really hard to break out here. Which, obviously, given what we accomplished four years ago is frustrating,” Santorum said. “You do the best you can and realize, sometimes, you have to play against a stacked deck.”

In this year’s unique nomination race, the cards seem especially stacked against politicians who claim substantial experience. Iowa frontrunner and junior senator Ted Cruz joined the U.S. Senate in 2013; national frontrunner Donald Trump is known for private-sector success in real estate, TV and a brief stint as a United States Football League team owner before the USFL folded in 1985. Assumed GOP party stars like Jeb Bush and Chris Christie have struggled to attract first-time caucusers.

“I know how angry people are with what’s going on in Washington. I’d just say, channel that anger to someplace productive, instead of just saying ‘OK, we’re going to blow things up,’” Santorum said. “I think anybody that looks like they’ve been associated with any great degree in Washington is seen as a bad thing, even if you have a record of actually shaking things up in a caucus.”

Santorum believes he can substantially stand apart from opponents on national security and energy policy, especially Cruz’s very public condemnations against the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“I hope Iowans realize that if the Republicans nominate someone that’s for abolishing the RFS, the RFS future is pretty shaky,” Santorum warns.

“I see it as a national security issue…The more we can rely on domestic production –– we don’t have to rely on Venezuela and we don’t have to rely on potentially hostile countries –– the better off we are.”

Facing just under 15 or so people after dinner, Santorum invited questions after less than ten minutes of his main points. Topics varied: from his view of the U.S.-Iranian deal (a “failure”), the history of fundamentalist Islam –– ”they’re attacking us, and we’re ignoring it,” he said –– to reforming entitlement policies like Social Security and social issues like abortion. It’s the face of maintaining a grassroots campaign for Santorum.

“Four years ago even at this point, we didn’t have huge crowds, but we had the ability to get in front of people and recruit people to be caucus chairs,” Santorum said. “We caught a big wave last time.

Hopefully we can catch a wave this time, too.”

By Kate Hayden khayden@charlescitypress.com

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