(Image source: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

This Sunday -- last chance, last dance before Iowans caucus -- and the candidates are making their final appeals.

REP. RON PAUL ON CNN: “I would say that I'm pretty mainstream.”

RICK SANTORUM ON NBC: “I'm here to change Washington.”

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN ON FOX NEWS: “I have more pastor endorsements than any other candidate.”

First, to Texas Rep. Ron Paul -- who hit up no less than three of the Sunday talk shows to make his case -- telling CNN’s Candy Crowley critics who call him unelectable and fringe -- are wrong.

PAUL: “I think that people who are attacking me now are the ones who can't defend their records and they've been all over the they've been flip-flopping and they can't defend themselves.”

But the congressman remains under fire for newsletters sent out in his name in the late ‘80s and early 90’s -- which some have called racist and homophobic. Paul denies writing them -- or even reading them at the time they went out.

Still, ABC’s Jake Tapper asked him -- what does that say about his management style?

“I don't think anybody in the world has been perfect on management. So, yes, it's a flaw, but i think it's a human flaw... I admit that I'm an imperfect person and didn't monitor that as well. But, to paint my whole life on that is a gross distortion.”

But when Tapper pressed him on allegations of 9/11 conspiracy theories, Paul got a little testy.

TAPPER: “One of your former close aids said, you quote, engaged in conspiracy theories...” PAUL: “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, don’t, don’t, don’t go any further than that... That is complete nonsense. I never bought into that stuff. I never talked about it. About a conspiracy of Bush knowing about this? Come on, come on, let’s be reasonable. That is just off the wall.”

Moving on to Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann -- who’s near the bottom of the polls in Iowa -- and used her Sunday show appearances to jab at her opponents.

BACHMANN: “After the Fox debate we had tremendous momentum that continues to this day. People saw how dangerous Ron Paul's policy is.”

BACHMANN: “Senator Santorum lost his last election by a wider margin than any other sitting Republican senator. … And look at the spending issue. Senator Santorum voted for the bridge to nowhere. And earmarks. He is a big spender in Washington D.C..”

And she told ABC’s “This Week” -- don’t listen to the pollsters.

BACHMANN: “Sometimes polls belie the truth on the ground. … This is about what we're seeing in reality. I think Tuesday night, people are going to see a miracle.”

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum made the rounds, too. Recent polls have him closing in on Mitt Romney and Ron Paul for the top tier of candidates in Iowa, and he tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” -- he’d always known he’d make a late breaking surge.

SANTORUM: “I've always relied that when that crunch time comes, in these last two weeks, that's when we were going to start to pick up and that's exactly what's happened.”

But despite the polls -- host David Greggory notes -- no one who’s served with Santorum in Congress has stepped up to endorse him. To that -- Santorum says...

SANTORUM: “You know, I lost my last race. And the general consensus was, you know, we like Rick, but, you know, you can't -- who goes from losing their last Senate race to winning the presidential nomination? My answer to that was, well Abraham Lincoln. … I don't really need or want Washington endorsements That's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to change Washington.”

And finally -- Rick Perry addresses campaign missteps in a visit to Fox News Sunday. Though he saw a meteoric rise in the polls right after entering the race, he’s since been on a downward spiral.

PERRY: “We had bumps and grinds but most campaigns have bumps and grinds. But the issue is the campaign is smooth and Iowa is a great ground game for us I feel comfortable we are going to do good on Tuesday.”

We’re guessing -- by “bumps and grinds” -- he wasn’t referring to the R. Kelly song. Don’t worry -- we linked it for you in the transcript section. Iowans caucus January 3rd.