Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he understands voters want a “new face” who will “stir things up,” but he’s urging Iowans to proceed with caution.

“This is too important a time to trust, really, a ‘pig in a poke,'” Santorum says.

That’s an old saying to suggest it’s foolish to accept a deal — or in this case a candidate — without a proper examination. Santorum says he’s running for president again because he wants to keep America safe.

“We’re fighting against a global jihadist movement that is in a holy war and if we don’t as a world come together as Christians, Jews and Muslims to defeat this seventh century version of Islam, then we are going to be tortured by it,” Santorum says. “Not just terrorized by it, but I think damaged by it.”

Santorum is spending today campaigning in northwest Iowa. He considers the area fertile ground, based on his 2012 campaign experience.

“We got 63 percent of the vote in a seven-way race in Lyon County four years ago,” Santorum says.

Santorum spoke at a noon luncheon at Leonard Farms, a purebred cattle operation near Holstein. He’ll be in Sioux City and Sioux Center tonight.

(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)