Santorum Rising in Iowa. Who is this Guy? Watch the Big Think Interview

With less than a week to go before the Iowa Caucus, it looks like former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum finally has some momentum. According to the latest CNN poll, Santorum has moved up to third place behind Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, with the backing of 16 percent of likely voters. This may not seem very significant, but evangelical voters — a powerful force in the Republican Caucus — have until now been fairly evenly split between Santorum, Michele Bachmann and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Momentum, which is derived from a candidate’s standing in the polls as well as speculation as to where a candidate’s campaign might be headed, is a big factor for voters, who want to pick a winner.

So far, Santorum has set expectations for his performance in Iowa about as low as they could possibly be. The candidate has said he will drop out of the race if he finishes last. And yet, if evangelicals sense they have a winner in Santorum, he could steal support away from Bachmann and Perry, and present a formidable challenge to Romney and Paul, who both have topped out at around 25 percent of the vote in polls. A united evangelical electorate, on the other hand, could deliver 35 percent to Santorum.

If the CNN poll is to be believed, Santorum is peaking late, but at exactly the right time. If you haven’t been paying much attention, there’s very little time to scrutinize this candidate. The video below is Santorum’s interview with Big Think after the last election cycle, in which the former Senator reflected on the “breakdown of trust” in the free market.  

Watch the video here:

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