Santorum: Hoping for ‘good night’

JOHNSTON, Iowa — If even more evidence was needed that Rick Santorum is the man on the rise, it can be seen here, in a hotel in a Des Moines suburb that will function as Tuesday night’s headquarters for the former Pennsylvania senator.

A forest of TV cameras are set up to capture his words at the conclusion of the caucuses. Santorum will address the crowd at a rustic wooden podium before a banner bearing the slogan “Faith, Family and Freedom.”

{mosads}For months, Santorum has toiled along the campaign trail, attracting few voters and fewer reporters. (He often recalls these days a meeting some months back that attracted the grand total of one person.)

Now, polls say he has a real chance of winning Iowa. And the army of media following him includes the likes of ABC News’s Jake Tapper, disclaiming before the cameras that Santorum is “the man with the Big MO.”

That phrase was first popularized by former President George H.W. Bush, referring to the momentum that, when it hits, can take a candidate to hitherto undreamed-of heights.

Santorum is completing a last-minute swing, visiting four caucus sites. He is expected here around 8 p.m. CT/ 9 p.m. ET. His fate will be known soon afterward.

Santorum’s aides, exhibiting a palpable combination of excitement and nervousness, are wary of letting expectations spiral out of control.

“We are hopeful that we are going to have a good night,” Santorum’s senior political adviser, Hogan Gidley, told The Hill. But Gidley insisted that a finish anywhere in the top four slots would be acceptable.

“We always had high expectations” Gidley argued. “But, at the same time, he was in single digits 10 days ago. He was in seventh place 10 days ago.”

Gidley acknowledged that the campaign had been vastly outspent by those of Santorum’s rivals, but sought to make a virtue out of that fact.

“The important thing is the money we have spent here compared to the other candidates — it’s nothing,” he said.

Still, it is difficult to see a path into real contention for the nomination if Santorum does not at least get a second-place finish tonight. Tuesday morning, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a Mitt Romney supporter, sought to minimize the importance of a Santorum victory, telling The Hill that Santorum would be “expected” to do well here. He implied that such a result would be merely a reflection of the deeply conservative nature of much of the Republican electorate in the state.

“I respect Sen. Thune for sure, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Gidley shot back.