OSKALOOSA, IOWA — If former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) is able to translate his late surge into a strong showing in Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses, it won’t be because of money spent on advertising — his budget pales in comparison to those of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
And it won’t be because of his sparkling debate performances — as a longtime second-tier candidate, he received limited airtime during those events.
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum courted young voters Tuesday as he seeks to surprise his rivals with a strong showing in Iowa's lead-off precinct caucuses. (Jan. 3)
A interactive look at the schedule through Super Tuesday and an analysis of where candidates are focusing their efforts.
But it may be because of the personal connections he has built with people such as Steve Boender, a farmer who met Santorum in May.
“I soon came to realize, as I got to know him, how he walked his talk. And he knew what he was talking about,” Boender said.
Conventional wisdom says presidential candidates win in Iowa by forging that kind of bond with voters. Now, Santorum is banking that this is still a path to victory, despite the focus this year on massive spending by “super PACs” and the influence of Fox News interviews and nationally televised debates.
After running behind for much of the race, Santorum pushed into third place in the latest Des Moines Register poll. On Tuesday, a key test for him will be whether a network of local supporters such as Boender can mount the organizational effort needed to draw enough voters to the caucuses — an operation his campaign cannot afford to buy.
Back in the spring, Boender ferried each of the candidates to a high school here for voter forums hosted by a conservative Christian group. He then wrote each candidate a thank you note, but only Santorum responded with a handwritten letter, he said.
That led to many e-mail exchanges and to Santorum bringing his wife and seven children for a week-long stay at a cabin on the Boender family farm in August.
On the last night, the two families shared a dinner of grilled corn, barbecued chicken and pork loin, then prayed and sang hymns.
Santorum has spent months trying to create an army of Steve Boenders — crisscrossing Iowa with more than 360 events and visits to all 99 counties.
“I think it can work,” Boender said. “At the caucus, you’re around your friends and neighbors. People will be able to stand up and say: ‘I know Rick. He’s real. He’s courageous. He’s principled, and he’ll actually accomplish what he sets out to do.’ ”
‘We love a Cinderella story’
Santorum completed his statewide tour in November, then spent the final weeks before the caucuses revisiting strategic strongholds.
“Oskaloosa is near and dear to our hearts,” he said as he opened a rousing address to about 150 supporters — including Boender and his wife, Jan — at the Smokey Row coffee shop Friday. “We went out and worked hard. And, most people would say, in anonymity.”
For a long time, the quiet grass-roots effort appeared to be going nowhere. But now, after watching his opponents rise and fall in the polls, Santorum is something of a last man standing, and his come-from-behind status is suddenly attracting lavish media attention.
There were so many television cameras crowded into the tiny Reising Sun Cafe in Polk City to catch Santorum on Monday morning — including reporters from Italy and Australia — that voters were forced out into the frigid winter air.
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