DES MOINES, Iowa-Rick Santorum continued his barnstorming of the state Wednesday and told a crowd of 200 at an insurance company here that his GOP rivals could end up in his administration one day.

The former Pennsylvania senator said Washington DC is "enemy territory if you are a conservative. It's a very hostile feeling and so you want people in the foxhole with you."

 "I've always said look at the people on the stage with me and I could look at every person there and say there is a place for each one of these people in my administration and I felt very comfortable-I mean I would not put Ron Paul as Secretary of Defense," Santorum said to laughs from one of his largest crowds ever at Nationwide Insurance in downtown Des Moines. "But, there is an appropriate place for each person and it would be different for each one because each one they have shared values on most things, not all things."

 The candidate, dressed in a beige sweater vest and slacks, noted that people ask him who would be his vice president if he does make it to the White House. He wouldn't name names, but said it would be "someone who would do exactly as I would do and do it hopefully better than I would do it, if for some reason I was no longer able to do it, but someone who would keep faith with the American public to continue with what I promised the American public I would do."

 If it sounds like he's a little too buddy buddy with the people he's running against, he still laid down the contrasts with his competitors and why he's the better candidate to take on president Obama.

 "You have two governors, one ran in the state of Massachusetts, of his two races he lost one. He ran as liberal, he didn't run as a conservative and he didn't run for re-election in 2006 because his numbers were so low he couldn't win," Santorum said referring to Mitt Romney.

"The other governor, governor of Texas ran as a conservative in a state that is very conservative and…(he) didn't have a broad appeal to win a lot of swing votes, he appealed to his base," he said referring to Rick Perry.

 Santorum said he's the only candidate that has won a swing state, Pennsylvania, and he can beat Obama because of it. He also noted that even Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann have run tough races in conservative districts. He added that he's running the leanest campaign out of all of his opponents saying he doesn't think he has "received one dollar in PAC money, not a penny."

"Not that I haven't asked, but nobody has sent me any," Santorum said. "I can go into this race as the least funded candidate who went out and talked to the people of Iowa and ran a grassroots campaign and the people of Iowa spoke to who they want to lead the country."

 Santorum has visited all 99 counties in the state and has campaigned the hardest here, but despite the barnstorming and some high profile endorsements he hasn't moved too much in the polls. He introduced a new motto on the trail today, "soldier on" recalling a campaign story from when he was running for congress when a potential voter's dog had an accident on his lap. He continued knocking on doors despite having to stop at a famous baseball player's home, Kent Tekulve, who played for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. Tekulve became a supporter of Santorum's. For the next three weeks Santorum will "soldier on" hoping that caucus goers jump aboard before it' s too late.