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Joshua Lott / Reuters
Rick Santorum looks on during pheasant hunting in Adel.
By NBC's Alex Moe
ADEL, Iowa – For the second time in as many months, Rick Santorum went pheasant hunting with one of Iowa’s most prominent conservatives but with no news of an endorsement.
With just about a week out from the Jan. 3rd Iowa caucuses, Iowa Congressman Steve King joined Santorum for a day of hunting near Des Moines.
“Well it's the day after Christmas -- not a particularly great day to go and do a whole lot of town hall meetings,” Santorum told reporters following a roughly three-hour hunt. “I just thought we'd do something that is fun, something that I enjoy doing and I know the folks here in Iowa enjoy doing also and doing with some good friends.”
Many GOP presidential candidates have been trying to court Rep. King to publicly back them, but none have been successful – not even pheasant hunts have changed his mind, including two with Santorum and one with Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
"I want my head and my heart to come together,” Rep. King said about a pending endorsement and noted there may still be one before the caucus.
NBC's Kristen Walker reports.
Santorum, who hunted pheasants, quail and chukars while wearing a bright orange vest and hat, told reporters that his campaign is the one with “momentum” going into the first-in-the-nation caucus next week.
“I feel very, very good that all the work that we've done, all the groundwork we've done, the foundation we've laid, is coming and working just perfectly,” the former Pennsylvania senator said. “We feel very good. We have a lot of energy on the ground. Our campaign is clearly the one that is rising right now and has the momentum.”
Santorum, who is still polling in the single digits depsite having visited all 99 counties and spent more time in Iowa than any other candidate, believes there are actually three primaries going on: Libertarian (Ron Paul), moderate (Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney), and conservative (Santorum, Perry and Michele Bachmann).
“You've got three folks running as strong conservatives, I think if we win that primary we're in very good shape as the non-Newt-Romney,” the former Senator said.
The one prediction Santorum had for reporters: “We're going to surprise a lot of people with how well we do on caucus night.”
Leave a Comment:
PS: Rick, you go to all that trouble to have your staff arrange this public hunting outing, and then, after schmoozing the guy the entire time, you don't get the endorsement? Ouch. EMBARRASSING!
I love that this forum is an article about Santorums Phesant hunting but has morphed into a support group for Ron Paul!
He is hte champion of hte constitution he is a Patriot and will win in Iowa.
Re min wages (he voted against them because they distort the market) It's not a free market if there are price controls. IF people will work for a wage then it's real, better than having the government (my taxes) pay less than the minimum wage for those who can't find work.
RE racism, he voted for MLK day, whereas Newt voted against it. Dr. Paul in not a racist.
Ron Paul 2012
Matt Papke USMC
King should hunt with Romney or Paul. They have more firepower in their bank accounts.
Santorum goes pheasant hunting, doesn't bag endorsement.
Who makes up these headlines?
IOWANS
The only thing I can remember this guy say was that 'people should be encouraged to have children'
We are all bathing in the filth of overpopulation and destruction of the earth for the purpose of trying to support too many humans...and this guy still thinks women should be constantly pregnant. I wonder if he thinks the women need shoes.
I wonder if he has any empathy for the billions of hungry and sick children on the planet.
FOX Lies.
Never heard of Steve King before. I'm thinking he probably has more pull with the campaign financiers than with the voters.
That makes sense! Never heard of a congressional member from your own state. Thats exactly how we ended up with Obama, but then you probably don't know or remember him either!
Santorum hunting pheasants, just like Dukakis riding a tank :) It doesn't count if you are not really a hunter.
Dumb backward Hunters hunt yourselves leave the animals alone.
You must be from IOWA!!? With a stupid comment like this you have to be!
DouchebagwithanNRAhatonsayswhat?
Whoever IOWA goes with, I will do the exact opposite! Look what the idiots wandering aimlessly got us into this last time. I got a taste of it last time I went through IOWA, I hit the Nebraska border as quickly as possible and now go around IOWA. And no I didn't have any issues with law enforcement, just enough of the intellect or (lack thereof) form 95% of those I spoke with.
Now there's a kinder phrase to describe Santorum in a google search--goofy pheasant killer.
Sanatorium. We know how religious he is, what a good Catholic he is. I wonder if he agrees with his Church regarding the death penalty? How about the war in Iraq? Did he follow the views of the last two popes on the war in Iraq? I don't think so.
Rick Sanatorium goes out pheasant hunting. Sanatorium is a turkey.
Maybe poor Sanatorium didn't bag an endorsement because he was shooting blanks?
shoulda wore camo.....would've made him look more prepared to handle international affairs.
Just in case anyone forgot...
http://lezgetreal.com/2011/12/anti-gay-rick-santorum-has-one-very-good-reason-to-quit-the-race/
Spend time with dying child or blow away birds. Some family values.
Where is SHOT GUN DICK CHENEY when you need him....
Oh.....that's right.....this is a DIFFERENT LAWYER.