Santorum Stops to Meet, Greet and Pray

Rick Santorum made a quick swing through Merrimack's Precinct 2 today, talking with supporters and stopping in the chapel to pray with his family and a priest.

He said told Merrimack Patch he is trying to stay optimistic today in New Hampshire but walked away mid-sentence to go into the chapel for a few minutes of prayer.

Outside, a member of his campaign traveling with him today said the former Senator from Pennsylvania is hopping around polling locations with his wife and kids trying to stay mostly out of the media fray.

He said they avoided a polling location in Manchester that was swarming with media and back-to-back stops with other candidates including Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich and instead popped into a Dunkin' Donuts down the street to chat with about 20 voters.

Outside the church, following his moments of prayer, Santorum greeted a small group of supporters that included three high school students who

Logan Magee, Kyle Mercer and Nick Tesero, all high school juniors, said they really like that Santorum is a family man, and they appreciate his values. Though none of them is old enough to vote yet, all three took time out of the school day to support the candidate.

Magee added that he likes Santorum's position on retaining manufacturing jobs in America.

“I think a zero percent tax with manufacturing companies would be a great thing,” 16-year-old Magee said. “It would help us do a lot more business here in the United States.”

Though very young, Mercer and Magee have each had experience helping out with political campaigns. Mercer said he did some work with Congressman Frank Guinta during his run for the U.S. House of Representatives and Magee was involved with Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign four years ago.

All three boys had been outside the church for a couple hours and planned to stay a little longer before taking a break, Mercer said.

“We'll be out tonight, for sure, getting the 5 p.m. traffic,” Magee said.