Santorum bets it all on Iowa

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum believes he’s being overlooked in the huge field of Republican presidential candidates, arguing that his slow and steady commitment to Iowa will deliver him another victory in the caucuses in 2016.

Speaking at a breakfast with reporters in Washington on Monday hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, Santorum noted that he was similarly underestimated in 2012, when he was polling at 2 percent nationally just weeks before he edged Mitt Romney in Iowa.

“There are a lot of new models in the showroom this time around, so voters are taking a look at everyone, and that doesn’t surprise me at all,” Santorum said. “But [I’m] a good, reliable model that people will come back to when they realize that all that glitters isn’t gold.”

Santorum is struggling to recapture the magic of 2012 when he emerged as the biggest threat to Romney, the GOP’s eventual nominee.

His strong showing last time around hasn’t translated into a base of support in 2016. Santorum is in 11th place nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, with 2.3 percent support, below the qualification level for the critical first debates in August.

{mosads}On Monday, Santorum blasted the Republican National Committee for going along with the media outlets that will be capping the first debates at 10 candidates based on national polling numbers.

“I think to have the national media play such an important role early in the primary to determine the top tier of candidates undermines the process that was established by the RNC to have state voters make that call instead of the media using a yardstick that has no relation to who will win the primaries,” Santorum said.

Santorum argued that the media outlets have the ability to “put their thumb on the scale” and include their preferred candidates in the debates.

“To me, it’s a miscarriage by the RNC and [Chairman Reince] Priebus,” he said.

The former Pennsylvania senator said he may do “a little more tv and radio” this month than he had otherwise planned in an attempt to raise his standing in the polls.

But other than that, Santorum said his strategy has not changed — he will focus almost exclusively on winning the Iowa caucuses, where he believes he has a special connection with voters.

“We haven’t changed who I am as candidate and what I believe in, and I don’t think Iowa has changed,” Santorum said. “In the end, Iowa is going to cut this field down dramatically, much more than whether you attend the debate or not. You can still go there and connect with people as we did in the past and be successful.”

“I’d rather not be their favorite now and be their favorite when it matters,” he added.

However Santorum faces stiff competition for from a big group of 2016 candidates with similar appeal to social conservatives, including Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

He is currently in ninth place in the Hawkeye State, taking only 4.7 percent support.

Santorum says that he will spend 19 out of the next 33 days in Iowa, many of them at manufacturing plants, as he stakes his candidacy on appealing to blue collar voters he believes have been left behind in the Obama economy.

Santorum also said Republicans have failed the middle class by focusing too much on broad economic issues, such as corporate tax cuts, rather than the smaller issues, like how to address wage stagnation, which he believes is more important to average voters.

“The Republican Party is stuck,” Santorum said. “We still talk in macro-economic terms and have been unwilling to address the micro-economic issues that people face because some in the party believe it’s not pure enough. I argue that’s a losing strategy, and if we’re going to win, we have to have a different message than the one we’ve been using for the last 20 years.”

Santorum declined to reveal his early fundraising numbers but said he expects the money will once again be flowing if he can perform in Iowa. He said that his campaign had only raised $2 million heading into the caucuses in 2012 but hauled in $20 million after his surprise victory.

The stakes are high as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his super PAC have set the bar with an early haul of over $100 million.

“I understand that Jeb has raised a lot of money, but there’s a lot more on the sidelines that will go to a conservative challenger as soon as that candidate emerges next year,” Santorum said. “The question is how much do you need to win Iowa and be competitive after that, and in my mind, it’s not nearly the money being talked about now.”