Survey shows Rick Santorum moving up in Iowa race

A new CNN poll shows Rick Santorum leaping into contention in next week's Iowa's caucuses.

The survey affirms the perception of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul as front-runners in the volatile race. But in perhaps its most startling finding, the likely caucus goers sampled gave third place to Mr. Santorum, who moved ahead of a slumping former Speaker Newt Gingrich.

According to the poll, Mr. Romney and Mr. Paul have both shored up their strength since an earlier CNN survey at the beginning of the month. Mr. Romney led with 25 percent followed by Mr. Paul at 22 percent, within the poll's 4.5 percent margin of error. A month ago the same pollsters found Mr. Romney at 20 percent and Mr. Paul at 17 percent. But the biggest moves in the poll were down for Mr. Gingrich and up for Mr. Santorum, who has spent more than a year working the state with little evidence of a reward for his retrial efforts.

Mr Gingrich led the early December CNN survey with 33 percent; on Wednesday, his support had plummeted by more than half, to 14 percent, behind Mr. Santorum's 16 percent, a number that more than tripled the 5 percent showing in an earlier survey.

Since his rise to the top of the GOP field, Mr. Gingrich has been the subjet of unrelenting attacks by his well-funded rivals as well as several officially separate superPACs. Mr. Santorum, by contrast, has largely flown under the radar, cloaked by his low poll numbers from attack by the other Republicans. That may change in the coming days as he battles Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and Mr. Gingrich for the support of the state's influential social conservatives.