Santorum Tries To Keep Pace In New Hampshire
NASHUA, N.H. (CBS) - It's the sudden rise of Rick Santorum, a sign he's a man with momentum as he draws larger and larger crowds in New Hampshire. At a Republican dinner in Nashua, he admitted his campaign is trying to catch-up, something that didn't seem possible until last week's near tie with Mitt Romney in Iowa.
"When you're 39 points behind in five days it's hard to close that big of a gap. We can't get on television, it's all bought," said the former Pennsylvania Senator. The dinner was friendly Republican territory, where many of the party faithful admit it took the squeaker in Iowa to give Santorum a second look.
"I didn't think up until then he had much of a chance," said Gordon Vanderpool now considering putting his support behind Santorum.
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports
It's been a bumpy 24 hours for Santorum after being booed for some of his conservative stances on issues like same-sex marriage. His candidacy is getting more scrutiny as the campaign gathers more attention.
At the Nashua dinner he tried to push back on the notion he's too conservative for New Hampshire voters. "I've been told by the press New Hampshire is much more moderate, much more libertarian," he said.
Santorum believes he's vaulted from the back of the pack at just the right time. "This isn't even a sprint, this is a dash. I believe if we had time here we could have done great things, but we're doing our best,"he said.
His campaign says two and a half million dollars has been raised in just two days giving them spending power. Now they quickly have to determine the best way to capitalize on it.
At the same dinner, rival Newt Gingrich seemed to have an entourage not a crowd, but he says no one should count on polls just. "This is a state that relishes the ability to surprise the experts," said Gingrich.
