Santorum Floats Reduced Federal Role In Education

By Jacob Rosenberg

BOONE, IOWA —- Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum discussed his plans for national education reform today in front of a packed Pizza Ranch in Boone, Iowa.

Santorum, who, as a Senator from Pennsylvania, voted in favor of former President George W. Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ law, told the crowd that he regrets his decision to do so.

“It is a mistake I made…I should have known better,” he said.

When asked how he’d go about fixing the current system, Santorum replied that he’d give more responsibility to families.

The question about education was posed to Santorum by high school senior and Ames resident Meredith Lehmann. She attended today’s event with her mother, Anne, who will be caucusing tomorrow for Santorum.

As a young person, Meredith Lehmann said she worries about the future of education and wanted to ask Santorum what improvements he would make to the nation’s education system. She got her wish, as Santorum pointed to her right away when the Q and A session began.

In his response to the teenager’s question Santorum blasted the Obama administration for expanding the Department of Education’s role.

“The federal government has increased, he said. “It’s top-down.”

While he stopped short of endorsing fellow GOP hopeful Rick Perry’s call to abolish the DoE, Santorum argued that parents should play more of a role in the education process than the government.

And though he did lament his past support for NCLB, Santorum said, “I got a record I’m proud of.”

Santorum, who has garnered increased attention in recent days, told the audience he has made over 30 stops to Pizza Ranches throughout the Hawkeye State. The incredible amount of time he has spent campaigning in Iowa may be one of the reasons he is starting to creep up in the polls.

With Iowa set to hold its caucuses tomorrow, the Santorum camp is hoping that their guy is peaking at just the right time.

Trump Prepared For Third Party Run

Real estate mogul Donald Trump told Fox News Monday that he is prepared to run for President under a third party banner if the wrong Republican candidate gets the party’s nod.

“I do have my ducks in line if I want to do it,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

Trump added however that he was still hopeful the GOP will ultimately select an adequate candidate, despite being caught up in a “crazy” race in Iowa.

The New York businessman has publicly flirted with a Presidential bid since early last year.  Although he initially kicked off speculation by casting himself as a possible GOP candidate, he ultimately announced that he will not run under the Republican ticket.

Trump, who garnered headlines as a possible candidate by questioning Barack Obama’s eligibility, currently hosts the NBC program The Apprentice. He has hinted that he could formally announce his plans following the season’s final episode in late May.

Iowa Preps For A Photo Finish

The Repubilcan caucus in Iowa is headed for a photo finish with three of the candidates being separated by just two percentage points. 

According to the latest poll by Public Policy Polling, the Iowa caucus will go down to the wire as Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are raking in 20, 19 and 18 percent of the vote, respectively. 

Romney and Paul have seen similar figures in Iowa in recent weeks, but the momentum is being controlled by Rick Santorum who has clawed his way back to relevancy in the last few days. 

In addition to Santorum’s surge is Paul’s fall. Paul was previously seeing numbers in the mid-twenties but that has fallen below 20 percent and below Romney. 

“It’s impossible to say who’s going to win Tuesday night,” said Dean Debman, President of Public Poling Policy. “If you think momentum will be the most important factor that’s an argument for Santorum. If you think having the most passionate supporters will be the most important factor that’s an argument for Paul. And if you think the ability to beat Barack Obama will be the most important factor that’s an argument for Romney.”

The remainder of the field has been quietly dwindling. After seeing strong national support, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is lagging behind with 14 percent support. Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman round up the field with just 10, 8 and 4 percent, respectively.  

The results of PPP’s survey were based on the surveys of 1,340 likely Republican caucus voters on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. 

Santorum Surges In Iowa

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has dedicated much of his time and money trying to win over voters in Iowa in recent weeks, and it finally seems to be paying dividends. 

According to the Des Moines Register’s latest in-state poll, Santorum is quickly gaining ground on frontrunners Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Santorum now sits in third place in Iowa with 15 percent support, nearly a double-digit deficit after four days of polling.  

Romney and Paul rake in 24 and 22 percent support, respectively, and though Santorum has struggled to gain national notoriety in the Republican presidential primary, he has continued to climb in Iowa. 

In fact, Santorum has seen figures that look more promising than his four-day, 15 percent would lead you to believe. According to the poll, the order of the top three candidates in Iowa is rearranged in the last two days, with Santorum replacing Paul as the number two in Iowa.

In the first two days of polling, Santorum was barely seeing double-digit support with ten percent. In the final day of polling, however,  Santorum’s rise became more evident when he doubled his earlier totals, falling just one percentage point short of Mitt Romney’s 23 percent.  

The poll was conducted from Dec. 27-30 and results are based on the telephone interviews of 602 likely Republican voters.

Iowa Poll: Romney And Paul In Dead Heat

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are nearly tied in Iowa, according to a poll released Friday by NBC News-Marist.

Romney holds 23 percent support among likely caucus voters while Ron Paul comes in with 21 percent.

Newt Gingrich, who initially polled well in Iowa, is now floundering in the Hawkeye state. He comes in behind former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who garners 15 percent support, and Texas Governor Rick Perry, who charts with 14 percent.

The poll comes just days before the Iowa caucus, the official kickoff of the 2012 election season.

The survey polled 433 likely Iowa caucus goers between December 27th and 28th. The full results can be viewed here.