MANCHESTER, N.H. - On the day before the balloting in the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primary, Rick Santorum predicted to HUMAN EVENTS that, a week after trailing Mitt Romney by eight votes, he would "come in fourth, maybe third" among New Hampshire GOP voters.
"We understood the limitations," Santorum explained, pointing out that his campaign did not have money to spend "on any television" in the Granite State. Although he noted that the campaign coffers have been doing much better since his stunning showing in Iowa January 3, Santorum took pains to note the odds that his team was up against. Along with a tight budget, he cited that "Mitt Romney has been running for President for six years" and added, tongue-in-cheek, "Ron Paul has been running since 1930-something."
As if to further downplay press post-mortems on a weak showing, the former Pennsylvania senator noted that "we are tied with Rick Perry" for fourth place in most polls.
Speaking to us at the St. Anselm's campus in nearby Goffstown, Santorum also underscored his message that Romney's past statements on issues such as cap and trade and "the big bank bailouts" would make him a vulnerable opponent to Barack Obama. In his words, "it would be more about him and not about Obama."
As for Gingrich, whom he called a friend, Santorum said there were things in the former House speaker's life that would be "distractions" in a general election campaign, and "we don't have those distractions."
