Mitt Romney, Frontrunner in Iowa Caucuses, Says He Will Win

Santorum, Paul and Gingrich still lurking as thousands say they are undecided

Despite the race shaping up as a virtual three-way tie between Ron Paul and Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor has assured supporters that he will win the race.

More than 100,000 Iowa Republicans are expected to make a decision Monday night. A poll by the Des Moines Register however said that 41% of voters could be persuaded to change their minds.

“We’re going to win this thing with all of our passion and strength and do everything we can to get this campaign on the right track, to go across the nation to get the ballots I need, the votes I need so I can become the nominee. That’s what we’re going to get,” Romney told supporters, according to the Associated Press.

For his part, Romney appeared at four well-attended campaign rallies Monday. It was the most campaigning he’s done in Iowa since 2008.

If there’s any candidate whose momentum says anything about their ability to dethrone frontrunner Romney, it’s former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. The Des Moines Register reported Monday that all of Santorum’s crowds at campaign events were standing-room only. At one of his events, a woman fainted.

He told onlookers in Reising Sun Cafe in Polk City that he raised more money in the past few days than he had in months. The Register’s latest poll said that Santorum was in third place and rising with supporters increasingly attracted to his conservative Christian message on faith and family.

He said he knows what kind of leader America is in need of.

“We are not looking for a chief executive officer for this country,” Santorum said according to the Des Moines Regiester. “We are looking for a commander-in- chief, someone who can lead our military and also someone who can lead the Congress and this country to transform this country. That is not what CEOs do.”

Newt Gingrich, once thought to be primed for an upset in Iowa, said that negativity had so bogged down his campaign that he didn’t stand a chance. Last month, he all but guaranteed victory.