Des Moines, Iowa, Jan 3, 2012 / 13:25 pm
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s late surge in the polls ahead of the Iowa Caucuses is a sign that he may be “poised to shock the Republican Establishment,” a Catholic deacon and political commentator says.
“Is the Santorum campaign the political equivalent of the tortoise and the hare fable? Will ‘slow and steady win the race?’” asked Deacon Keith Fournier of the Diocese of Richmond, Va., who described himself as a friend of the former senator.
“The members of the mainstream media who had dismissed Santorum throughout the entire 2012 primary campaign are now covering his ascent,” Deacon Fournier wrote in a Jan. 3 column for Catholic Online. “Some even seem to have surrendered their dismissive arrogance. Even those who once treated his candidacy with condescension, cynicism and disdain are taking a second look.”
Polls suggest that Sen. Santorum will place among the top three in the Republican Party’s Iowa Caucuses, with former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul. A Dec. 26-27 poll from the North Carolina-based, Democratic Party-affiliated polling firm Public Policy Polling showed that 18 percent of likely caucus voters intend to vote for the former senator, a statistical tie with the other leaders.