Notes from the campaign trail--Pizza or beer?

You can see the Decorah Pizza Ranch from Toppling Goliath

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum points out that he supposedly had the support of just 2 percent of the public two weeks before the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.  He wound up winning the Republican Caucus in Iowa.

One of the reasons for his strong showing was his commitment to "Doing the whole Grassley," a phrase coined to describe visiting all 99 Iowa counties, as U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley does.

On Saturday night Santorum--running again for president in 2016--notched his 68th Iowa county by visiting Decorah.  He notched a few more counties with stops Sunday in New Hampton and West Union.

Santorum tells decorahnews.com that the personal touch works in politics.  He says if he's going to ask people to support him during the caucuses, he wants to give everyone a chance to meet with him.

Often that means meeting at a Pizza Ranch in small towns in Iowa.  2008 Iowa Republican Party Caucus winner Mike Huckabee credits his #1 finish in part with his many stops at Pizza Ranches in Iowa.  Santorum spoke at three Pizza Ranches in one day in 2012.  The Pizza Ranch in Boone even named a salad after him.  It's not that candidates are necessarily trying to cultivate the Pizza Ranch connection--Santorum tells decorahnews.com that the location is often picked for a practical reason--Pizza Ranch offers the use of its meeting rooms for free.

On Saturday night, however, Santorum drove one more block past the Decorah Pizza Ranch to speak at Toppling Goliath in Decorah.  It was nothing against Pizza Ranch, Santorum said, but after a day of campaigning that started in Des Moines and included several stops at the State Fair, Santorum had to admit it felt "pretty good" to relax with a beer at the end of a long day.