Iowa Caucus Odds of Winning Have Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney in Dead Heat

Rick Santorum has become the “new flavor of the week” at just the right time with the Iowa Republican Caucus taking place Tuesday evening.  The former Pennsylvania Senator is in a dead heat among the oddsmakers with Ron Paul and Mitt Romney to win it.  This promises to be one of the most exciting Caucuses to watch the results flow in.  Paddy Power, which does not accept bets from US citizens, had Santorum and Paul at 15/8 odds while Romney was listed at 5/4. 

Santorum, who has long lagged in the polls, picked up late steam last week after going on a whirlwind tour of the state.  The staunch Republican managed to visit every single district and claims to have raised more money in the past week than over the entire course of his campaign to date.

Santorum, who does not have a lot of money, has a different strategy: Go everywhere. Go there again. Rinse and repeat, remarked Roger Simon of Politico: 

“This is my fourth or fifth trip to Indianola,” Santorum told a crowd of about 100 people in the town’s library. “We’ve spoken to groups as large as 300 and as small as one.”

Meanwhile, Romney and Paul have seen little loss in momentum as Santorum surges.  But the former Senator appears to be taking away possible votes from rivals such as Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. 

“We didn’t come here to lose,” he told the crowd. “A week ago, I was at 7 percent in the polls and you wouldn’t have even asked me that question.”

Santorum was sitting around 15 percent in recent polls, but that number could rise.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com