Four years ago at the Pizza Ranch outside Des Moines, when Rick Santorum was on the verge of an upset beyond historic proportions, he drew a massive crowd that packed the local Iowa chain restaurant. Groups of reporters were pinned against the salad bar. You could barely move. The former Pennsylvania senator had to give two different speeches, one with a bullhorn.
Four years later, on Sunday night back at the Pizza Ranch where this indefatigable social conservative had strode to victory over Mitt Romney and won the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, the mood was totally different. This was no campaign rally; it was a wake.
Sure, Santorum filled the party room, but only a handful of reporters were present. The parking lot, at least, was filled with Santorum bumper stickers from all over. These were the loyal supporters: staff members, volunteers, even longtime mega-donor Foster Friess. These were the people who had been with Santorum since he was at 2% in the polls back in 2011 and stood by him throughout the political rollercoaster ride that followed.
They are with him again now, back at 2%.
Rick Santorum's last Iowa town hall at a Pizza Ranch pic.twitter.com/LyerHEtwSW
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 1, 2016
In both of his campaigns, Santorum has made the retail campaigning mega-tour of visiting each of Iowa’s 99 counties. In 2012, it gave him the grassroots support that he needed to win. In 2016, Santorum’s long haul means nothing as Ted Cruz has usurped his role as mantle-holder of the evangelical right and Donald Trump has swallowed up all the media attention.
Santorum arrived insisting he was going to do a real town hall. After all, he had performed 700 events like this one in the past five years and was going to end on a strong note. He maintained confidence that he could somehow pull off another, even more improbable upset, noting that 36% of his supporters made up their mind on caucus night in 2012 and that even more people could still be persuaded this year.
He insisted that the undercard debates, all of which he participated in, had demeaned the second-tier polling candidates. To Santorum, there was a need for “serious candidates to be taken seriously”. He dismissed polls and instead told Iowans to “vote your convictions”.
By the end of Sunday night’s wake, it became more of a valedictory. Santorum was made an honorary Pizza Ranch employee. His campaign chairman noted that he had been to 120 of the chain’s locations. He was presented with a Pizza Ranch T-shirt – a fleece, too.
Rick Santorum is made an honorary Pizza Ranch employee pic.twitter.com/TeP9tg4xJ9
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 1, 2016
Santorum told attendees that he liked campaigning in Iowa “beyond measure and I have learned so much from it”. He hoped to come back to a Pizza Ranch next time.
“When I come in on Air Force One,” he joked, “there may not be as many of these types of deals.”
When Trump made his lone appearance at a Pizza Ranch earlier in January, the company’s CEO, Adrie Groeneweg, appeared to endorse him. Santorum got the honorary swag from his own campaign staffers.
All the same, Santorum seemed grateful. He was moved by the presentation, and stayed to take selfies with well-wishers and supporters long after he stopped speaking.
One Pizza Ranch miracle had worked before, he figured; there was no reason for him to suppose that it couldn’t happen again.
