Rick Santorum appearing more confident as crowds grow in Iowa

There was something different about Rick Santorum on Sunday.
As he spoke before a packed downtown coffee shop here on New Years Day, Santorum displayed a dramatically more confident shift in his tone and demeanor--a marked change from just a few days ago, when he was considered a hopeless candidate in the state and certainly for the Republican nomination.
"It's great to see such a good turnout," Santorum exclaimed, before vowing that he would be back in Iowa "in the fall"-- a not-so-subtle suggestion that he would win the party's nomination.
On Saturday night, the well-respected Des Moines Register poll of likely Republican caucus-goers put Santorum in third place--his
strongest showing yet in the ongoing survey--while also signaling that he was gaining momentum in the state in the final days before Tuesday's caucuses. With this sharp recent uptick in support in mind, combined with events filled with crowds of supporters and media, Santorum comes across as a new man.
Traditionally, the former Pennsylvania senator has campaigned more as a prophet of doom than a savior of the republic. On the stump, he's tended to discuss his past record in Congress more than how he would change the country as president. But now, with momentum building behind his campaign in the frenetic final 48 hours before the Jan. 3 caucus vote, Santorum's talking about the future, not just the past.
With polls showing him rising, Santorum seems to have gained a new energy, and he discusses the caucuses in a way that suggests that he really thinks he has a shot at taking the state.
And, as if things couldn't get any better for the former Pennsylvania senator, frontrunner Mitt Romney gave him a boost Sunday by knocking him on the stump while campaigning in Atlantic, Iowa. The attack wasn't lost on Santorum, who took it as still another sign that he's a late entry into the top tier of the Iowa field.
"I think it shows that we're on the move," Santorum explained when he was asked about the Romney attack during a stop in Orange City. "And we're resonating with the people of this state."