senator rick santorum. let's go to cnn's joe johns right now. he's joining us from des moines. i think rick santorum believed in himself. not a whole lot of others, joe, did. but it's been quite amazing over these past few days how well he's done. >> reporter: that's true, wolf. you know, more than half of the republicans who participated in this process the last time around viewed themselves as evangelical christians. born again christians. so it might be a little risque to compare this process to a seduction, but rick santorum has gone a long way. he says the other candidates in the race are speed dating, and he says what he's been doing is a courtship. >> i have done literally 358 or 359 town hall meetings in the state of iowa. we've been to all 99 counties, and we weren't speed dating. >> reporter: rick santorum's polling numbers, his surge in the race for iowa, is starting to look like love. though the question is, what took so long for a staunch conservative who's been courting the state for months to finally get some traction? >> the crowds are bigger. but i think they'd be bigger in any surge because people are focused. >> reporter: and for some of those evangelicals and social conservatives, he's been with them on all of their issues for so long. it's as if they're just now remembering he's actually in the race. anti-abortion. anti-gay marriage. pro national rifle association. on the right side, the far right side, of many things that matter to them most. one santorum selling point is that he appears to have no serious baggage compared to others. because he was vetted during his years in congress. >> you know, i got a thorough cleansing, if you will, when i ran in 2006. i had everybody look at everything. and had national profiles and everything else. you know, the answer is i've been through this. >> reporter: that 2006 senate re-election campaign haunts him. he got crushed in his home state, pennsylvania. a battleground state. so why would the republican party risk giving the nomination to a guy who got bounced out of office like that? answer number one, it was a tough year. >> it was -- it was the worst election for republicans in, you know, probably -- maybe in the history of the republican party in pennsylvania. >> reporter: answer number two, to explain that drubing in the senate election principle. he got advice to moderate his positions in order to suit the voters' moods, but he refused. >> i lost but i stood for what i believed in. my thought is there's one thing worse than lose ing. that's fak sising your principles. i wouldn't do it. i didn't do it. >> reporter: democrats poke fun, of course, pointing out this mum rouse ad that makes santorum look like quite the compromiser. >> barbara boxer and i wrote a law protecting open space. i'm even working with hillary clinton to limit inappropriate material in children's vid owe games. because it makes more sense to wrestle with america's problems than with each other. >> reporter: he's also gotten slammed for earmarking while in congress. he argues there was nothing wrong with it. >> yeah. well, i did. >> reporter: but make no mistake. standing up for conservative social issues has defined rick santorum's career, to the point that some republicans who know him point out he's gotten pigeon holed. >> he's really revolved himself around social issues like abortion. and when you're talking about the economy as the number one issue to americans in a republican primary voters, he's speaking their one language when he needs to speak everything to voters right now. >> reporter: one more factoid that's been making the rounds -- one more factoid that's been making the rounds on santorum today is that he actually endorsed mitt romney four years ago for president. now, of course, he's in a contest with mitt romney. i saw romney out in atlantic, iowa, today on the campaign trail. and he certainly managed to fit in a little comment about that endorsement. wolf? >> joe johns in des moines for us, thanks very much. let's speak to senator rick santorum right now. he's joining us. senator santorum, you want to quickly respond to that endorsement of mitt romney four years ago? because romney, as you heard, is having some fun with it. in fact, i'll play the clip, if you want to hear it. listen to this. >> senator santorum was kind enough to endorse me last time around. i appreciate that. and -- and we've been friends. i can tell you that our backgrounds are quite different. like speaker gingrich, senator tan tor um has spent his career in government, in washington. nothing wrong with that. but it's a very different background that i have. >> he listed you as a washington insider like newt gingrich. go ahead, senator santorum. speak directly to mitt romney. >> first off, i endorsed mitt romney i think five days before super tuesday. i didn't endorse anybody for a long time. my focus in the 2008 election was on making sure that we had someone other than john mccain. that is what i was publicly stating. because i thought he would not be a strong candidate for us in the general election. i didn't think he'd be the best candidate for us to do the things that were necessary for this country. and so my principal purpose, i said this from the very beginning, i was going to wait and see who was the person who was the best able to defeat john mccain when the time came. i waited. it became a two person race after florida right before super tuesday and i chose the person who i thought was better, a more conservative alternative than john mccain. you know, i made a judgment. and i -- and i supported mitt romney. with respect to the issue about -- i get a kick out of this with governor romney. i mean, newt said this at the debate. governor romney, it's not like he hasn't tried to be a career politician. he just hasn't been successful. so that doesn't mean that any one of us is -- i mean, i ran in a very tough state as a conservative. beat democratic incumbents which he's never done. won as a conservative in a swing state, which he's never done. this is a race. this is a political race. it's actually probably good to have some experience. i have experience on national security that he does not have. he may have business experience. but you're not the ceo of the country. you're the commander in chief of the country. that's your principal responsibility. he has absolutely no experience in that regard. i do. i've served eight years on the armed services committee. i was a leader with barbara boxer. that's one of the things i talked about, the ad about working with people. yeah, i'll work with people when i agree with them even though they may disagree on the majority of other issues, and i did. >> senator, you're doing amazingly well in this "demine register" poll. in fact, on their final day of polling you and romney were basically in a statistical tie. here's the question. what do you do after iowa? let's say you win in iowa. mike huckabee won in iowa four years ago, but he didn't get the nomination. how do you make sure you can parlay that into a win for the republican nomination? >> well, again, you know, mitt romney said we come from different backgrounds. i do. i come from the northeast. i come from a working-class, blue-collar town of butler, pennsylvania. i grew up in a steel town and in an ethnic neighborhood. you know, a lot of those neighborhoods look a lot like the neighborhoods in manchester, gnash hua and a whole host of other towns in new hampshire. we've spent a lot of time there, unlike mike who four years ago didn't spend a lot of time in new hampshire. i have. i've been there more than anybody according to to "the washington post." than jon huntsman who's basically been living up there. we've got a great grassroots base of support. our office in bedford is full. we have over 20 state representatives who are joined our team. we have a state senator. others who have stepped up. we've got strong support there. we're going to make a splash when we get to new hampshire the day after iowa, and we're going to do well up there. i'm not saying we're going to win, but we're going to do a lot better than people think. >> you're not just going to ignore new hampshire. you're going to new hampshire, and then you'll go to south carolina? because some of the other republican candidates look like they're just going to focus in on south carolina and assume that mitt romney has it wrapped up in new hampshire. >> well, the bottom line is, if you want to win the republican nomination, that's great. but i want to win the general election. that means we've got to compete in states like new hampshire. which is a great swing state. we've got to compete in pennsylvania and ohio and indiana. those are the states that i think i can run well in just like i'm running well here in ohio -- excuse me, in iowa. which is exactly what we need from a nominee in this party sfwl what are you going to do if the attack ads, the negative ads that really hurt -- if you can hear me. can you hear me okay? can you hear me now, senator? are you there, senator? it's wolf. can you hear me? i think we lost -- stand by for a moment. we'll try to reconnect with senator santorum. let me walk over to john king. you know, he's a front-runner now. i think you can say. he's about to get what we shall call the newt gingrich experience. the attack ads, i suspect, are about to begin. >> if he gets a strong iowa show ing. if he comes in a strong second, he gets the bounce from iowa, we'll see what happens. let's go back in time. the question is, if rock santorum tuz what mike huckabee did four years ago, how does he bounce out? you mentioned, wolf, mike huckabee did not do well in new hampshire. 2008. mike huckabee didn't do very well. why? a very different state. very few evangelical, born-again christian conservative voters in the state of new hampshire. you heard senator santorum just there with wolf talking about his economic message. there are a lot of gritty blue-collar voters down here in this part of the state especially. gun owners in this part of the state. that would be his appeal. trying to do what huckabee did not do, expand beyond the evangelical voters. if he can try to do that in new hampshire, that would be a great challenge. if he did fairly well in new hampshire, then he would become a giant factor in the race in south carolina. here you see the orange here. this is huckabee 2008. a good number, like iowa, about half of the voters in the south carolina primary describe themselves as evangelical, born-again christians. could senator santorum do what governor huckabee did? here's the question mark. john mccain narrowly won south carolina. why? what matters is not just how santorum does. how many other conservatives stay in the race. fred thompson, 16%, best shows in 2008 in the state of south carolina cost mike huckabee the state. had fred thompson dropped out huckabee probably would have won south carolina and blocked john mccain from being the nominee. so the evangelical voters do matter here, wolf, hugely. also depends on how many candidates you have in the race. as senator santorum just said, he wants to expand from iowa into new hampshire the economic message will become key there. can he take on governor romney, governor huntsman in a state where they have spent a lot of time talking about the economy and national security. >> we've re-established contact with senator santorum. senator, i was going to st you about -- you saw what happened to newt gingrich. his numbers went down, down, down, down when attack ads, negative ads bombarded him in iowa. i was there last week. i couldn't believe all the ads. you know that's potentially about to happen to you. are you ready for that? zbr absolutely. you don't get into this race thinking people aren't going to say bad things about you. i've said i'm the most consistent conservative. i've never said i'm perfect. i've made mistakes. out here on the stump i've owned up to it. whether it's the vote for no child left behind. not like i was an advocate for it but i ended upholding my nose and voting for it. it was a mistake. th( is the differ rens. you never see me go out and vad vo kate things that are -- as republicans and conservatives understand it. that's why i think i'll hold up very well. we're going to have the resources and we're going to have the grass roots team in both new hampshire and south carolina to do very, very well there. i'm not concerned about that as well. >> i don't know if you heard john king's report. he was talking about four years ago in south carolina where mccain barely won. huckabee came in second. fred thompson got, what, 16%. what are you saying to some of these other republicans about dropping out potentially, assuming you're going to be emerging from iowa as a front-runner? >> well, i think there's a very strong movement. we've seen it here in iowa. i saw it in -- even in new hampshire. where people are concerned about the -- really about the electability, not just the electability of governor romney but also about making sure that we elect someone who's going to do what's necessary to make the changes that america needs. and, you know, i think we want someone that we can trust in that position. so i'm very confident that as we come out of iowa, and if we come out in a strong position, and we hope that we do, that it shall -- con tefshive wills start koelessing around the person that has the best chance of carrying that conservative message and dividing that vote obviously is a sure fire election of someone who doesn't reflect those values and hasn't been that stallwart that i have in my time of service. >> rick santorum in rock rapids, iowa. supporters behind him. good luck. we hope to see you on our election coverage tuesday night when they count those votes. we hope you'll be able to join us then. thanks very much, senator. >> you're welcome. thank you very much, wolf. i appreciate it. it's great being here. this is the hardest santorum county here in iowa. we've got a great crowd here. 200-plus people. we've got great crowds everywhere. we're very, very excited. thanks for the opportunity. >> he's done it the old-fashioned way. he's worked really hard in iowa. senator, thanks very much. good luck to you. ron paul is firing back at his critics who say he can't and won't be elected president. stand by for his interview with our own candy crowley. are the iowa caucuses all they're cracked up to be? we're taking a closer look at whether this leadoff contest in the nation really matters in the end. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! welcome. i understand you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... by this time tuesday thigt night, we could know which republican is the winner in iowa. it's the first test of the candidates to see if they have what it takes to challenge president obama. let's go back to erin burnett and gloria borger. they're taking a closer look at the numbers. erin? >> all right. we wanted to actually switch-up how we were going to do this, wolf, just because of your interview with rick santorum. because at the end, you know, you saw him smiling and -- >> having fun. >> -- as wolf said working hard. i wanted to show you this. bho best relates to iowans in the latest poll. this is where you see that hard work coming through. rick santorum, 20%. michele bachmann very high. >> michele bachmann has traveled to all 99 counties in the state. so has rick santorum. i bet ron paul is pretty close. these are the people who spent the most time in the state. iowans feel like they know them. you saw rick sar tor um. he's been traveling around in a truck with his chief of staff and they're kind of hanging out in every county. you look at the person, though, the question, who best relates, mitt romney only 10% to iowans. "a," he hasn't been there a lot. "b," even when he's there, they know him from 2008. he didn't do so well in 2008, so there are still these reservations about him. >> this is going to be interesting here as we go through these questions. the next one i want to show -- by the way, i like that, how i just trash it. who is the most consistent. this is interesting. you also see santorum scoring about the same as mitt romney. >> sure. >> ron paul, i guess this isn't surprising, right? he has been very consistent over the years. >> as dana bash was pointing out, ron paul has an agenda. small government. get rid of the debt. get out of the wars. easy to say. easy to understand. consistency. and either you like it or you don't. >> interesting that romney with all the -- the finger pointing on flip-flopping and, okay, you had this view on abortion, now you have that view, still coming in second. >> santorum has that problem, too. the other candidates are pointing out, well, maybe you're not so conservative. maybe you were for those earmarks. he said, yes, i was. i've made some mistakes. there's a question with that, too, for santorum. >> i'm going to trash this one because this one is the big one. who is the most electle. this is where you see iowans saying, but the reality is, even though we may not connect with the guy. >> right. the key to romney's success will be the electability question. since we just saw rick santorum, 7% electability. this is a man who lost his last senate race as erik erikson pointed out. there are clearly questions about that. same for newt gingrich. and, of course, for ron paul and perry. so, again, this is romney's ticket if, when people go to the caucuses, they actually think about electability or somebody they like. we just don't know until we see that entrance poll on tuesday. >> all right. well, thank you, gloria. we shall see, wolf. but, obviously, this picture shows it right here. it really all coming down to electability for romney. >> gives us a good snapshot of what's going on in iowa right now, guys, thank you. we're watching the last big push in iowa before the caucuses tuesday night. we'll have an update on the last-minute pitches, the last-minute attacks as well. and iowa is just one small step toward getting the delegates needed to win the republican presidential nomination. what does it take to reach the magic numbers? stay with us. the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account... in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the o