Santorum Greeted by Throngs of Press, Supporters, Undecided Voters and a Lone Protester

Rick Santorum rolled into in Johnston Friday night to watch the Insight Bowl Game between Iowa and Oklahoma, riding a surge in the polls and seeking Caucus support.

The former Pennsylvania senator was greeted by a multitude of reporters, photographers, videographers, supporters, some undecided voters and a lone protester armed with red glitter.

The protester, a young man dressed in a white dress shirt and pants with a Rick Santorum sticker on his shirt, threw the glitter on the GOP presidential candidate as he shouted “stop the hate.”

Santorum simply kept walking with the glitter clinging to his Iowa Hawkeyes sweatshirt and began talking to the crowd as the protester was asked to leave the building by restaurant staff. The man, who appeared to be in his 20s, would only identify himself as “activist.”

Santorum’s national communications manager, Hogan Gidley, said that while the candidate has been verbally abused at various campaign stops, he has never before been “glittered.”

Undecided Voters Giving Santorum Another Look

The conservative who has visited all 99 of Iowa's counties in his quest to garner voters has gained more support and scrutiny in recent weeks. A CNN poll of likely caucus-goers shows Santorum’s support has tripled since the beginning of the month, and he’s now in third place with support from 16 percent of Iowa Republicans who say they’ll participate in the Caucuses Tuesday.

Most of the people at Okoboji Bar and Grill were either supporters or undecideds who wanted to meet the candidate, like Jerry and Elizabeth Perlman of Savannah, Ga., who are in Iowa visiting family.

“We have been unsuccessfully chasing a couple of the candidates, and last night we looked online to see where some of them might be,” Jerry said. “The eyes of the world are on Iowa, and we think it’s a good opportunity to meet the next president of the United States.”

The Perlmans voiced a question that several undecided voters at the event did: “We want to know if he is electable.”

Aaron and Cindy Hubbard of Urbandale had the same question and talked briefly with Santorum as he moved through the restaurant. “I do think he’s electable since he has come up in the polls,” Hubbard said. “I did ask him if he did earmarks (as a senator), and he said that he had, that everyone had done them, but that was before the earmarks began to be abused.”

Santorum has been battling attacks from other candidates that he’s not a true conservative because of his votes for earmarks, which Texas Gov. Rick Perry called “the gateway drug to the spending habit they have in Washington, D.C.”

Iowans Mulling Their Options

As Kevin Burton waited for Santorum to arrive, he said he had been considering a couple of the candidates, either Santorum or Newt Gingrich, but was leaning toward Santorum.

“I think he deserves credit for his hard work in the state. This will be my first caucus on Tuesday. I’ve been an independent all my life. This year I switched to the Republican Party because of the economy and because of Obamacare.”

Burton shook Santorum’s hand and thanked him for campaigning hard in Iowa.

“I also told him I had actually decided on him a couple of days ago,” Burton said. “I like the idea he is thinking about how he can create blue-collar jobs.

After meeting, greeting, and posing for a few pictures, Santorum settled down to watch the bowl game.

It was the candidate's second bowl party of the day, evidently working to appeal to as many Iowans as possible. Friday afternoon he hosted a watch party for Iowa State fans in Ames watching their team in the Pinstripe Bowl.