Are We Going To See The Santorum Surge?

Well, this dovetails nicely in this post your humble blogger wrote recently about Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
Now that the former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, is peaking and possibly faltering, it appears that Mr. Santorum is getting the kind of backing that Iowa GOPers will want to see when they go to caucus two weeks from today.
And the Iowa GOP is not much different than many state parties. More moderate in the cities and suburbs and more conservative in the small towns and the rural areas.
And Western Iowa GOPers may take the endorsement from Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley to be what sways them in the caucuses. Western Iowa GOPers are much more conservative.
While Mr. Santorum seems to languish in poll after poll, I would not be surprised to see him get the third place or higher that I believe he will get when all is said and done.
Say what you want but with Mr. Santorum, what you see is what you get. And he is not shy about his social conservatism.
It will do him well in a state like Iowa. But I think it hurts in New Hampshire. So he would get a let down there. But has a real chance in South Carolina and even Florida.
What Mr. Santorum needs to do to gain traction beyond Iowa is to promote his overall conservatism. He needs to play up his economic and national security cred. He does have that as a member of congress and a senator.
A stong surge in Iowa has to force Mr. Santorum to broaden his candidacy. Because if he does finish strong, so cons are going to start to feel confident that he is their guy. They will be inclined to openly support Mr. Santorum. But he needs to address such foreign policy questions as this.
How would a President Santorum deal with the change in leadership in Red Korea? Now that the original Dear Leader is burning in hell, what will he do that contrasts him with our Dear Leader, President Obama. It is of great importance to know that from Mr. Santorum.
Or how would a President Santorum approach long-term tax reform? Would he support a flat tax? A national sales tax? A 9-9-9-like plan? How he answers that will determine if he can appeal beyond his base of so cons.
But, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average of potential Iowa caucus-goers, Mr. Santorum is at 6.3%. But unlike other flash-in-the-pans like the Texas governor, Rick Perry, or congressman Michele Bachmann, Mr. Santorum may be peaking at the right time. Also, as I noted, Mr. Santorum has campaigned in all of Iowa's 99 counties. In a state like Iowa, that can only help.
Come back in a week to see if indeed there is the Santorum Surge. I think we will all be surprised.