Rick Santorum has a shot at third place in Iowa

Rick Santorum is rising in the polls, and now looks like a contender for third place in Iowa.

The GOP hopeful Iowa caucus support among likely voters more than tripled since early December, which it was published for the third place with 16%, according to a CNN / Time / ORC poll on Wednesday.

Mitt Romney (25%) and Ron Paul (22%) exceed Santorum in the Hawkeye State survey, but it is far from Santorum's uber-longshot status only a few weeks.

His numbers have slipped, as he aggressively provoked the most influential evangelical leaders in the state, while tirelessly to visit all 99 Iowa counties.

A devout Catholic, Santorum strongly against abortion and gay marriage, and believes that America's economic problems are linked to the collapse of the institutions of marriage and family. He is open about the threat of "radical Islam" is to America.

Santorum echoed in the emergence of a similar study published on Tuesday by Public Policy Polling. He checked in at 10% in the poll, not far behind in third place Newt Gingrich (13%).

Romney and Paul also lead the PPP wenquĂȘte, but Santorum is considered the second most common choice for Iowa voters, when asked by pollsters to include the candidate.

Santorum has long cast itself as a reliable conservative, that voters can trust to stand by his principles when the going gets tough.

"I've always had to come the story of the girl in the room, go past us and take a turn with a few other guys to say beautiful," Santorum told The New York Times "and then at the end of the evening, a steady old Eddie , not pushy, but he's the man you know you want to take home to mom and dad. "