Iowa's Evangelicals Moving To Santorum

Signs that Rick Santorum is suddenly a contender in the race for the Republican nomination for president were all over Iowa on Thursday.

The former Pennsylvania senator - who has built his long-shot campaign around trying to appeal to evangelical Christians in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday - received a boost when several prominent preachers said their followers were coalescing behind Santorum.

Some preachers called on one of Santorum's chief rivals for the influential evangelical vote, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, to abandon her campaign, or fold hers into Santorum's.

"It seems to me that it's time for her to close down shop," said Cary Gordon, a Sioux City pastor who said the move would allow conservative Christians to speak with one voice - and possibly prevent a victory in Iowa by Mitt Romney or Ron Paul.

Many evangelicals see Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, as too moderate and Paul, a Texas congressman backed by libertarians, as unelectable. The winner of the Republican nomination faces Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

"The reality is, we are divided and being conquered, so to speak, if we don't coalesce around one candidate," Gordon said.

In perhaps the most significant sign that Santorum had arrived as a contender, Texas Governor Rick Perry - the third candidate in the GOP field who has made a special point of attracting evangelicals - launched a negative radio ad against Santorum.

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