his efforts on the New Hampshire primary instead. Jon Huntsman also decided to focus on the New Hampshire primary, and did not campaign in Iowa. Polling in the final weeks saw a surge of support for Ron Paul, with Gingrich's support beginning to falter. Support for Mitt Romney also stayed somewhat steady, and Bachmann, Perry, and Santorum were all mostly tied in the second-tier. A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling between December 16 until December 18, 2011, showed Paul with the lead for the first time, with 23% of likely caucus-goers supporting him. Romney fell close behind with 20%, and Gingrich saw a steep drop in support with 14%, largely due to the increase of negative advertisements being bought against him in the state's media market by his opponents. Another poll conducted by Iowa State University, KCRG-TV and The Gazette between December 8–18, 2011, also found Paul in the lead with 27.5% of support, with Gingrich close behind at 25.3%. Yet another poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports on December 19, 2011, found Mitt Romney with the most support at 25%, with Paul close behind at 20%, and Gingrich at 16%. Fundraising for Paul also increased in December, when his campaign raised more than $4 million in one "moneybomb" over a weekend. Shortly prior to the caucus date, an unofficial campaign to urge voters to write in Sarah Palin began running radio and television ads in Iowa. The ads argued that Palin is the only candidate who can stop crony capitalism. The final week before the caucus witnessed a surprise surge in the polls for Santorum, who rose from singled digits earlier to 15% behind Paul at 22% and Romney at 24%. Unexpected performance by Santorum Santorum spent months in Iowa, traveling to all 99 counties and holding some 381 town hall meetings over the course of the campaign. However, for months Santorum lagged in the polls and had difficulty raising money, traveling around the state in a pickup truck instead of buses and caravans used by other candidates. He lagged in the so-called second tier of candidates, polling in the single digits in Iowa as late as December 18. However, his surge began around that time, as numerous polls put him in the top three along with Romney and Paul. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Santorum caught fire at just the right time as social conservatives in the