(WESH-2) Presidential hopefuls head to Central Florida: Presidential hopefuls are keeping the faith to get the all-important conservative vote. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said that rallying support from conservative religious voters could make or break a candidate’s campaign. “Generally people that are really serious about their faith frequently are intense voters,” Brownback said.

(SouthwestIowaNews.com) Brownback makes campaign stop in southwestern Iowa: During visits to St. Albert High School, Treynor Junior and Senior High School and a stop at Treynor State Bank’s annual ag seminar, Brownback outlined his concerns and hopes for the United States and the world. … While stating his opposition to President Bush’s proposed troop surge, Brownback said he wished Democrats had allowed a vote on supporting the surge and troop funding, the real area of engagement for Congress. Having recently visited Iraq, Brownback said he believes a victory is still possible, but added “it’s not moving in the right direction.”

(WIBW-13) Brownback to visit eight states in seven days: Brownback is scheduled to meet with Republican activists, donors and business leaders. He will also address key Christian radio broadcasters, lead a fact-finding mission to the U.S.-Mexico border, and headline the opening screening of Amazing Grace in Los Angeles.

(Des Moines Register) Who is right for Iowa Republicans?: Don Kass, chairman of the Plymouth County GOP, said the dark-horse conservative might be Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, both of whom are popular with the base but are not as well-known as many of their rivals. … Some Iowa Republicans might quibble with Huckabee, who signed legislation extending state health and education benefits to illegal immigrants in Arkansas. Likewise, Brownback is among the few Senate Republicans to speak out against President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq, a policy most conservatives solidly support.

(Pro-Life Blogs) Blogger criticizes media for coverage of Brownback’s past: The decade old controversy is quite interesting because the allegation was based upon the recollections of a few individuals who said Brownback implied he was pro-choice in 1993. Despite a complete absence of documented statements, speeches or votes that would suggest he supported abortion, journalists and politicians now assert that he has flip-flopped on the issue. Brownback has a congressional record that is 100% pro-life. He has consistently opposed child killing and destructive embryonic stem cell research and his remarks during the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Roberts and Alito were arguably the most poignantly pro-life of all speakers. … I don’t know where Brownback stood on abortion prior to 1994 when he served as the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture or whether his views regarding legal protection for the unborn were developing. However, his record in office and public speeches are plain enough.

February 10, 2007BY DAWSON
BELLFREE PRESS STAFF WRITERMichigan Republicans tried to shake the depression leftover from the fall election today by looking forward to the presidential sweepstakes in 2008.By all indications, it’s going to take awhile longer.

Despite appearances at the state convention in Grand Rapids by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Kansas U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, and pep talks from surrogates for Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, GOP activists appeared to be a bit wary and worried about what the future holds and whom they’d follow into it.“I’m not wowed yet,” said Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, one of a dwindling number of high profile GOPers in statewide office.

More than a few of those who gave it to him though, said later they don’t think he’s got much chance of winning.

“Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, other GOP presidential hopefuls, also will speak to GOP delegates at the convention Saturday.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. U-S Senator Sam Brownback will speak tomorrow morning (at eleven o’clock) at the Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor.

The conservative Republican from Kansas is running for president in 2008. Brownback will talk about the role of the judiciary in an event that is open to the public. He has stalled the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff to a federal judgeship because she attended a lesbian commitment ceremony of a family friend in 2002.

The Romney attack on Brownback

I have been stunned by the attack on Sam Brownback over the last week by Mitt Romney partisans on abortion. The substance of the allegations is that Brownback was not a solid pro-lifer in 1994 and may have been pro-choice.

The Romney people have latched on to this as a way to defend themselves from attacks that they are flip-flopping on abortion. They claim that if Sam Brownback is allowed his conversion, then so should Mitt Romney.

There are several problems with this:

First, there is the issue of recency. As a recent Weekly Standard article (apparently the article was passed around at NR’s conservative gathering in Washington this weekend. Is this going to become a theme of grassroots assaults on Romney’s record?) has demonstrated, Romney was actively pro-choice much more recently. Indeed, Romney was even trying to get the support of NARAL with lines like:

“You need someone like me in Washington.” Moreover, those present recall that Romney argued that his election would make him credible in the Republican party nationally and thus help “sensible” Republicans like him overshadow more conservative elements in the GOP.

Romney was not just a moderate Republican, he wanted to be a leader of the moderate Republicans against the conservatives. And the level of activism continued into his administration.

Second, there’s the issue of genuineness and expediency. A pro-Romney blogger on Evangelicals for Mitt recently attacked Brownback, but also walked into an anti-Romney self-trap. Nathan Burd said:

Contrast that with Senator Brownback’s odd explanation for his 1994 views on life. He was pro-life, but he didn’t want to say he was pro-life? Huh?

However, Mitt Romney has the same problem. As has been noted, Romney claimed to be pro-choice in 1994 and again in 2002. But it is not well understood that be backed off this position when he was flirting with running for Governor of Utah in 2001. In fact, he wrote in a letter to the Salt Lake Tribune (full letter at end of post):

I do not wish to be labeled pro choice. I have never felt comfortable with the labels associated with the abortion issue. Because the Olympics is not about politics, I plan to keep my views on political issues to myself.

So, again, the problem for Romney is not that he went from pro-choice or “indifferent” to pro-life, which is the substance of their attack against Brownback. He went from pro-choice to somewhere between pro-life or indifferent to vociferously pro-choice to pro-life.

Then, there’s the issue of believability. One pro-life activist characterized his trouble with Romney’s conversion like this:

What I don’t understand about Romney’s “conversion” is how he contributes it to when he was studying the embryonic stem-cell research issue. I don’t understand how a tiny human embryo was able to “convert” him, but a visibly developing child in the womb wasn’t able to. Just does not make much sense to me.

Finally, the conservative movement has to ask itself a question: what price is too high. As another activist says (emphasis in the original):

We cannot give Mitt Romney a pass on this solely because he’s running against John McCain. To do so would be being dishonest to ourselves, the conservative movement, and any notions that honesty and integrity matter in politics.

This blogger continues by questioning Mitt Romney’s integrity in general. If the flip-flopper moniker (which now seems well settled in the press) moves into a problem with Romney’s integrity, he is toast.

Meanwhile there was also some literature being passed around by grassroots activists attacking Mitt Romney’s position on pro-life issues.  GOPProgesses, Liz Mair, was the first to pick up on the news which was in turn futher spread around at Red State.

The Romney camp was quick to offer their clarificationon the days events when word of the flyers reached their camp.

Brownback finds plenty of supporters at march against abortion

By Matt Stearns

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Thousands of people marched against abortion here Monday. More than a few of them also marched for Sam Brownback.

Brownback, the conservative Kansas Republican senator, announced his bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination Saturday in his home state. Monday’s march was his first major public appearance since.

He was feeling the love.

Dozens of blue “Brownback for President” posters dotted the National Mall, where marchers gathered before proceeding to the Supreme Court. Well-wishers approached to urge him on. A gaggle of photographers recorded virtually his entire participation. (He was one of the few politicians to march the entire way; most others gave speeches beforehand and then split on this toe-numbingly cold, damp day.)

“God bless you, Sam! You are the next president, in the name of Jesus!” shouted a voice near the onstage microphone after Brownback’s speech.

A surprising response for an underfunded politician mired at 1 or 2 percent in national polls? Not in this crowd. To many marchers, Brownback isn’t an asterisk, he’s a hero. And that’s what gives Brownback hope that his grassroots-oriented campaign could take the establishment by surprise.

Brownback so far is the only Republican presidential hopeful who appeals strongly to the party’s social conservative wing, and his candidacy is a test of how influential that wing of the party remains.

Speaking to reporters at a Capitol Hill reception his campaign hosted (it had to rent an overflow room to handle the crowd), Brownback unleashed a volley of facts and figures: In Iowa, 70 percent of Republican caucus-goers describe themselves as “pro-life,” and 40 percent of them wouldn’t support a candidate who wasn’t opposed to abortion, Brownback said.

“This is where the heart of my base, and where the heart of the base of the Republican Party, lies,” Brownback said. “When a proper voter contact is made, I think we’ll be in great shape in this campaign.”

And what of Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, two Republican front-runners? Neither was at the march. (The only other possible Republican presidential candidate who appeared was California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who’s an even longer shot than Brownback. Hunter vowed to make all potential judicial appointees watch a sonogram.)

McCain opposes abortion except in some circumstances, but he’s had difficulty persuading religious conservatives to support him. That remained true Monday. Some dismissed him as “not pro-life” or “unimpressive.” Whitty Whitesell of Plymouth, Mich., allowed that McCain was “a war hero and wonderful example” but said Brownback “stands for life.”

Romney took a beating from a flier that featured pictures of him and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. The brochure was titled “Pro-Life Students Against Flip-Floppers from Massachusetts” and highlighted Romney’s past support for Roe v. Wade. (Romney says he opposes abortion.) Cheryl Sinclair of Smithtown, N.Y., who said abortion was her No. 1 issue, called Romney “back and forth” before she even saw the flier.

Brownback wouldn’t trash McCain or Romney, but he did say, “I don’t think so, no,” when he was asked whether any other Republican candidate could match his record on fighting abortion.

Still, even some in the crowd holding Brownback signs didn’t know much about the man from Kansas.

“All I know is he’s pro-life and they were passing out signs,” said 17-year-old Laura Marshall of Livonia, Mich.

Some knew less.

“Who’s Brownback?” a young man asked his mother. “I think he’s from Nebraska,” she responded.

But at this point, Brownback and his supporters are running more on faith than anything else.

“Pray for the campaign and we’ll get it done in 2008,” Brownback told the crowd at his reception.

Patricia Pitkus Bainbridge of Rockford, Ill., was among those listening. She’d never given a penny to a politician until Brownback came along. She has talked up Brownback to friends and is unperturbed by those who say he can’t win.

“I believe God can raise people up who He wants to raise up,” Bainbridge said. “I believe God is raising him up.”

 Read the rest of the article

Check out this blog for some more great thoughts on the matter.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A proposal to impose a flat tax is making a comeback, it’s part of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback’s campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Pushed by conservatives in the 1990s, a flat tax calls for earned income to be taxed at the same rate instead of the current system of using different tax brackets for different incomes.

Brownback calls the current tax code “dreadful and incomprehensible.” Best known for his conservative stances on social issues, Brownback also touts himself as the Republican presidential prospect with the truest conservative ideals on fiscal issues as well.

Flat-tax fans say the system is a simple way to reward hard work, treat everybody equally and save the economy billions in tax-preparation costs.

WASHINGTON – Kansas’ Republican senators were divided Wednesday over President Bush’s call to boost U.S. forces in Iraq, with Sen. Sam Brownback saying more troops are not the answer and Sen. Pat Roberts offering guarded support.

Brownback’s comments were a departure from his past backing for Bush’s Iraq policy and could hurt the president’s efforts to rally GOP lawmakers behind the plan.

“I do not believe that sending more troops to Iraq is the answer,” the Kansas Republican said in a written statement from Baghdad, where he met Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top officials to discuss U.S. policy in Iraq.

“Iraq requires a political rather than a military solution,” Brownback said.

Bush announced in a televised address his plan to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq. In a bow to his critics, Bush conceded that it was a mistake not to have sent more forces there earlier.

But Brownback, who is planning a bid for the White House, said he came away from meetings with al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders “convinced that the United States should not increase its involvement until Sunnis and Shi’a are more willing to cooperate with each other instead of shooting at each other.”

Brownback also warned that the United States “cannot sustain a war effort without broad public support, and we cannot count on such support unless the situation in Iraq improves and American casualties decrease.”

Roberts said his support for Bush’s plan is conditioned upon Iraqi forces stepping up efforts to end the sectarian violence and achieve stability.

“At this point, I believe it is the only realistic choice given the regional instability and danger we face,” Roberts said. “But this support is not without limits if, as this mobilization takes effect, we do not see measurable progress.”

Roberts stressed that military action to quell the violence in Baghdad and Iraq’s western provinces “must be primarily conducted by the Iraqi government and Iraqi forces.”

Brownback is among a handful of GOP lawmakers to reject Bush’s plan. Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe also oppose an escalation of U.S. forces. Meanwhile, Democrats – who now hold a majority in Congress – are gearing up to challenge Bush over the troop increase.

Another skeptical Republican was Rep. Jerry Moran, of Hays, who said it does not make sense to send in more troops if the Iraqi people aren’t willing to set aside sectarian differences and commit to rebuilding their country.

“The American servicemen and women have done all that has been asked of them and I am concerned that, up to this point, we have not seen the Iraqi government and people demonstrate their willingness to stand on their own,” Moran said.

Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore, of Lenexa, declined to take a formal position on the plan, but warned that any decision would be carefully scrutinized by the Democratic-controlled Congress.

“I am concerned about the implications of a troop escalation and look forward to an open, honest discussion about all options regarding the United States’ presence in Iraq, including full, aggressive congressional oversight of the Administration’s overall Iraq policy,” Moore said.

Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt, of Goddard, had the most supportive comments, saying he was pleased that Bush’s plan includes moving Iraqi security forces to the front, with U.S. troops serving a support role.

“I am hopeful the president’s overall plan will result in an acceleration of U.S. troops coming home,” Tiahrt said.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda, of Topeka, who was elected last year in part because of her criticism of the Iraq war, declined to take a definitive position but said she has “deep concerns” about the plan.

“I listened to every word of it just hoping he would be able to articulate a policy that would make the Iraqis more responsible,” she said. “It sounds like a lot more of the same and not very much change.”

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

“He will be fully announcing on January 20 in Topeka, Kansas,” Brian Hart, the senator’s spokesman, said Friday. The move was expected even though Brownback set up an exploratory committee in December to gauge whether he had enough support for a full-blown campaign.

After the announcement in Kansas, Hart said Brownback will fly to Washington to participate in the anti-abortion march marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling.

Brownback is a lesser-known candidate in a crowded GOP presidential field that likely will include Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, rounds out the top tier. All three are considering runs but, to various extents, also have records or positions on social or fiscal issues that don’t sit well with the Republican base.

So, Brownback _ a Catholic revered by the GOP’s conservative wing for his opposition to abortion and gay marriage _ sees an opening in the race for someone like him. “I am an economic, a fiscal, a social and a compassionate conservative,” Brownback said last month.

See the rest of the article at FOXNews.com