Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – On Friday, Rick Santorum suggested he could become the first political casualty of the 2012 presidential race.
Just over two months after his official presidential campaign began, the Republican candidate intimated it could soon end - if he's not "in the top five" in Saturday's Ames Straw Poll.
The Republican presidential candidate spoke with CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.
"I think we have to be in the top five. I mean if we're eight or ninth - if we're not in the top five - this tells me that we don't have the organizational ability to get this thing done," Santorum told Crowley.
"This is a marathon. We got to show that we're building a team and so I'm kind of drawing the line there."
The Ames contest is seen as a test of a candidate's organization and popularity in Iowa.
If the former Pennsylvania senator does "draw the line" after a weak finish in Ames, it would surely be a devastating end to a long flirtation with a presidential bid.
In the past two years, Santorum has visited early presidential primary and caucus states – like Iowa and New Hampshire – scrounging for support. In June of this year, he announced his formal presidential campaign.
Since then, Santorum has barnstormed Iowa, home to the nation's first presidential contest. In the past few weeks alone, he – along with his wife and seven children – has traveled across Iowa selling his economic message and brand of conservatism. Among other things, Santorum believes government spending has run amok and is staunchly against abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest.
And yet his conservative appeal has not caught fire with many conservative voters. In a recent CNN/ORC International poll, Santorum saw a paltry two percent support. Other polls have also shown him near the back of the pack.
If Santorum does bow out of the GOP presidential race after the Ames poll, it would certainly not be the first since time that contest has claimed political casualties.
In 2007, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson bowed out after a less-than-stellar finish in that contest.
From CNN Politics
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Well Ricky my boy I'd suggest you start packing your bags because based on those mason jars they had lined up with the candidates' name on the side and the little corn kernels inside, your jar wouldn't feed a baby chick.
Thanks for playing "This Just Ain't Right".
He could finish 1st in Iowa's straw poll, it's caucuses, and 1st in South Carolina and his candidacy would still be doomed.
You really want this guy to be the GOP nominee so we can spend more time talking about the mess that going in the back door can create.
I'm as surprised to hear this as I was when Clay Aiken, Ricky Martin, and Ellen Degeneres came out of the closet.
I Googled Santorum...eww!
The male Sarah Palin.........irrelevant and an idiot.
it had nothing to do with his poor performance in the debate. the guy is a extremist. americans are not into that sort of person running our country
The reason his candidacy was over before it started is the crazy abortion and anti-gay positions he holds. I am sure there have been bigoted arsepicks in the oval office in the past, but this is the now. His public linkage to "santorum", that is the Dan Savage version, also makes him not only unelectable, but a widespread joke.
The headline is not quite true. His poor poll numbers have already doomed his bid even before the straw poll.
Another extremist neo-con goes down? No big loss to the political landscape.
Well I would go a step further and say that his prez bid was doomed prior to him anouncing his prez bid.
In fairness to him, I thought he was the most well-spoken of the bunch in the debate. But that said, what a crazy man. I am sorry but his views are really extreme. Most people I know who are pro-life do make exceptions, but Santorium makes no exceptions in this debate even cases of rape, incest or for if a mother's life is at stake. Ugh.
Is he already blaming his organizers/staff for failure? He is the potential candidate.
Let's hope the Iowa foolishness eliminates Rick and a few other no-chance candidates.
Give it up Rick, you were voted out as a Senator, how could you possibly think you could be President. One of the worse Senators from PA in our history.
The only person who thinks Santorum can ever get elected again is Santorum. This loser has no one to blame but himself. He lost a Senate seat which is pretty hard to do,and his ideas are as far fetched as his political rhetoric. GET a JOB if you can,your background and reputation probably won't help.
And after all his hard work, Palin can just roll in with the gaudy bus and steal all the thunder from him and the other hard-working, real candidates. She without a brain in her head, but a pair of cute legs and god, that hair, with a wink and a chuckle and some inane babble. . . .I feel sorry for the real candidates.
Whoops, looks like God lies.
I thought Rick Santorim did a great job last night. I'm sure I will be called a Hawk, but I would sleep a lot better at night with him as Commander in Chief than Ron Paul, and Ron Paul is my US Rep so I do know of him and his stands quite well. I happen to disagree with him on several of his Foreign Policy opinions, although I'm more in agreement with him on the economy and the Treasury issues.
I also much more trust Rick Santorim with the need to implement cap/cut and balance. He is a tad to the right of me on the issue of exceptions in regard to the abortion issue, but I respect his arguments and I am SICK of that being a lithmus test, (and, yes, I am a female). I have been following RIck Santorim since watching his "Tea Party Rant" live on the trading floor, and I have never seen him as being disingenuous but to instead stand fast for what he believes in, which matches my beliefs more than any other candidate since Duncan Hunter, Sr., in the 2008 race. He may not have a chance, but I find that to be a real shame. I think he is the real thing, from my perspective.
Lack of support and donations, let alone he has no idea of who or what Americans are – doomed Satanorum's fanatsy long ago. He's a creep and that's easy to see/hear.
["I think we have to be in the top five..."]
The TOP 5 – of the 8 that was on stage???????????????????????????????? Are you kidding me? I think only ONE on that stage should go forward and ALL of the others should step back. And that ONE, will get beaten in 2012.
Now if you want to go by who was NOT on that stage, that person may have a better chance to win the primary but in the general, he would get beat also!!
Santorum, you were DONE when they ignored you last night!!
Why don't you quit now anyway? The entire GOP roster of crazies should just go away. You have done enough damage with your hatred and divisive acts and it will take America quite awhile to shake the stench of you out of this country. Since all of youclaim to have a faith in a God, why don't you sign a pledge to not do further damage to this great country?
So long. One less GOPer lining up to turn America into the former Soviet Union. Funny, America fought communism for decades, trying to make Russia see it our way. Now the Tea Party is trying to undo all of our rights. If real Americans don't stop this, we are doomed. Don't wait until it is too late to stop this. Vote Democratic. Save America.
That frothy idiot had zero chance from day one. If the country wants a radical Theocracy, we'll all move to Iran. Go home and play with a fetus Rick.
He is broke. Cain and Lizard Gingrich are broke too.