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TILTON, N.H. -- Rick Santorum, who became something of an overnight sensation last week after a string of surveys catapulted him to the top of the ballot in Iowa, implored the couple hundred people gathered to see him here Thursday to ignore what the national polls say.

And, he said, don't defer your judgment to the pundits -- who are on their "seventh 'this race is down to two people' scenario." Instead, he told the crowd in a hall at the Merrimack Valley Railroad train station, the back wall of which was lined with cameras and visitors, "you fight to be first; lead, don't follow."

"This is the most important election in your lifetime," he insisted.

Coming off a nail-biter second-place finish -- losing to Mitt Romney by just eight votes -- in Iowa earlier this week, Santorum is wasting no time riding that momentum into New Hampshire. The former Pennsylvania senator met with voters in Brentwood on Wednesday night, and held five events Thursday in this first-in-the-nation primary state.

And while Santorum spread his message Thursday, a new national poll put him in second place, eight percentage points behind Romney.

Santorum spent nearly an hour and a half at the station's hall, answering questions ranging from his support of the Second Amendment to how he would spur infrastructure development to the core convictions that prompted him to make this White House run. Santorum credited his father and grandfather -- the latter "would smoke everything all day long, cigarettes, cigars . . . he was a whole different breed of cat" -- with showing him tough love growing up. He said he wouldn't be in this race if not for Obamacare, which, he asserted, is based on the premise that "you cannot be trusted to be free." Santorum said he would repeal every regulation associated with the bill if he were to become president. Leaving it up to individual states to waive the law won't work, he said, because places like California, New York and Massachusetts wouldn't be likely to follow suit.

Many of those gathered in Tilton said they were seeing Santorum for the first time, and several said the former senator's Iowa victory made him a more attractive candidate. "I was up in the air, but [his showing in Iowa] definitely makes an impact," Heather Javalgi, who brought her two children and brother along, told RCP. "When you see people come to the front, it makes you take a closer look."

Sara Smith of Northfield said that before the Iowa caucuses, she wasn't sure if Santorum "could stand" against Obama. "I was torn between the candidate I wanted and who could beat Obama," she said. After the Iowa results came in, Smith, who voted for Mike Huckabee last cycle, felt confident in Santorum. Another New Hampshire Republican at the gathering, Marj Newcomb, said she found a new respect and admiration for the candidate when he delivered what she called a courageous speech Tuesday night after the results came in. But she has reservations about his ability to win in the general election. Romney, she said, "is very presidential and can beat Obama. I haven't seen that with Santorum yet."

Santorum's Iowa momentum appears to be carrying over into the Granite State. Not only are his town-hall appearances packed, but the former senator, who struggled to get press attention until a short time ago, can hardly get into his black SUV given the media throng in his face.

After the Merrimack appearance, Santorum paid a visit to the Tilt'n Diner a few miles away, where more cameras and reporters than restaurant patrons greeted him.

Dave and Christine Caron drove with their children in the family's white van -- the side of which was painted with the words SANTORUM and JESUS -- up from Danberry to see the candidate, whom they say they are fully behind now that Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann have suspended their campaigns. "He's totally electable," said Christine, who attributed  Santorum's 18-point loss to now Sen. Bob Casey in 2006 to that year's Democratic wave.

When a pair of Occupy Wall Street supporters stood up to shout questions at Santorum, the Carons rushed to their candidate's defense, chanting his name and pumping their hands into the air.

Santorum was halfway out the door by then, surrounded by dozens of cameras as he made his way back to his car to head to the next event in Concord.