KCTV 5Santorum campaigns in Missouri

Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was in Lee's Summit on Friday night to rally his supporters for Tuesday's Missouri Primary.

Many of those supporters brought their kids and praised Santorum's socially conservative platform.

"We've prayed him here, prayed him to Missouri," said Ellen Bishop, who came from Buckner with her husband and four kids. "We're going to pray him to the White House. We know he stands for family and we appreciate that he also stands up for the unborn."

The former senator from Pennsylvania is counting on the passion of religious conservatives to win after three successive losses following his narrow victory in Iowa.

"He's a values type of guy," said Liberty's Mike Cerny of why he supports Santorum. "There's no flip-flopping."

The flip-flopping remark is a reference to Mitt Romney, on issues ranging from abortion to public health care.

Santorum repeatedly praised Romney's character while criticizing the former Massachusetts governor's role in creating an expanded government-funded health care plan there.

He also appealed to his conservative religious base in his criticism of President Obama's health care plan.

"Barack Obama talks about the right to health care," Santorum told the crowd. "Who gives you rights?"

"God!" the crowd responded without a moment's hesitation.

"Not the government," Santorum concluded.

Newt Gingrich won't be on the Missouri primary ballot because he missed the filing deadline. That makes Romney Santorum's only powerful competition in Missouri, and that gives Santorum a significant edge despite his fourth-place standing on the funding front.

"I think that he has a dedicated following and this is not a hyperactive primary," explained KCTV5 political contributor Steve Glorioso. "So the dedicated are more likely to show up then the bystander type who are just kind of viewing this. A dedicated following trumps money sometimes in a situation like this."

At the rally, Santorum categorized Romney as the one with the money, Gingrich as the one with the debate skills but himself as the one with the conservative social values to best take on President Obama in the general election.

"Gov. Romney says I've got the most money, the best organization," Santorum said, then countered. "He isn't going to have more money than President Obama."

If he does win on Tuesday, it will be merely a symbolic victory, because the Missouri delegates are not bound by the primary results. Glorioso said, however, it would still create the kind of momentum Santorum needs to keep his campaign alive.

"In the great scheme of things it gives him at least a place to put a stake," Glorioso said. "Meaning, 'I won Missouri, a classic bellweather state.'"

As of Friday, Santorum was the only GOP candidate to campaign in Missouri heading into Tuesday's primary.

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