Iowa Shootout: Santorum Takes Aim at Frontrunner Ron Paul on Foreign Policy

At a campaign stop here in Iowa today, former Sen. Rick Santorum warned about the potential dangers of electing one of his most formidable opponents.

"The things that Iowans most like about Ron Paul, his economic ideas, are the things he is least likely to be able to accomplish," he said. "The things that most Iowans are worried about are the very things he will accomplish."

With this statement, Santorum took dead aim at the Texas congressman who recently surged to the lead in Iowa opinion polls.

[Rick Santorum: Marriage Decline Equals Economic Pain; Blame Obama.]

The former Pennsylvania senator put his crosshairs Paul's plan to cut $1 trillion in government spending in a single year, noting that it is not within a president's power to make that cut alone.

And the things a putative President Paul could do on his own are the most dangerous for the country, Santorum said.

"One thing he can do as commander-in-chief is pull all our troops home. He can pull our fleets back," said Santorum. If that should happen, he warned, "you have created a vacuum. And let me assure you, people will fill that vacuum, and they will not be friendly to us."

[Michele Bachmann Looks Ahead to South Carolina.]

Santorum, who was once mired at the bottom of Republican polls, has picked up steam in Iowa, recently polling at around 10 percent—neck-and-neck with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. This puts those three candidates behind Paul, as well as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

The fusillade at Paul are a sign that Santorum is putting up a hard fight in the Hawkeye State. The former senator has hit the state particularly hard, visiting all 99 counties—several more than once—but with one week left to go until the caucuses, most candidates are descending onto the state for a final push.

• Officials: Obama Will Ask to Raise Debt Ceiling This Week.
• Gingrich Will Tout Jobs, Economy in Final Iowa Push.
• Who Will Win the Iowa Caucuses?

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