LENEXA, KS (KCTV/AP) -
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum used a campaign appearance Wednesday in Lenexa to fire up his supporters.
He said a win in Saturday's caucus is important.
"We have to win here in Kansas," he said. "And win big."
The former Pennsylvania senator spoke for about 35 minutes to more than 200 supporters at Harvest Graphics, a printing and business communications firm in Lenexa.
Two other Republican hopefuls - former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul - had scheduled multiple Kansas events Friday. Gingrich had planned a number of events across Kansas but has abruptly canceled those.
Santorum said that is a significant sign and he is the true conservative in the race.
Romney has not announced any plans to visit the area, but state GOP officials are also hoping for a visit from the front-runner.
During his speech Wednesday, Santorum took aim at Obama. He talked about Obama's out-of-control government spending and that he wants to have residents "dependent upon it and him for their lives."
Supporters say Santorum's working guy and conservative roots appeal to them.
Santorum is trying to overcome Romney, who has been seen as the inevitable nominee.
Romney narrowly defeated Santorum in Ohio and also took Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, Idaho and Alaska.
Santorum won Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Dakota.
Gingrich took his home state of Georgia. Since then, a Santorum Super PAC has called for Gingrich to step down.
The Red White and Blue Fund says Gingrich is splitting conservative voters and making it hard for them to unite against Romney.
The Kansas GOP had hoped the state would get this kind of attention when it scheduled the caucuses for the Saturday after Super Tuesday, which featured voting across 10 other states.
Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photo Courtesy: KCTV5 Photographer Brett Hacker
Photo Courtesy: KCTV5's Heather Staggers
Photo Courtesy: KCTV5 Photographer Brett Hacker
