Brownback

[JackFTwist]

from today's NYTimes

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 — Declaring himself a proud conservative before a crowd of cheering supporters waving American flags, Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, on Saturday announced his candidacy for president.

Mr. Brownback, an evangelical Protestant turned Roman Catholic and a former Kansas agriculture secretary, said he would focus on reviving faith and families in America; combating abortion, poverty and wasteful government spending; opposing same-sex marriage; and revamping Social Security and the federal tax system.

“The last thing we need in America is to take God out of our public lives and institutions,” Mr. Brownback said during his speech in Topeka, Kan. “We need to embrace our nation’s motto, ‘In God we trust,’ and not be ashamed of it.

“To walk away from the Almighty is to embrace decline for a nation,” he said. “To embrace him leads to renewal, for individuals and for nations.”

Mr. Brownback, 50, was first elected to the House in 1994. Two years later, he was elected to the Senate, to complete the unexpired part of Senator Bob Dole’s term when Mr. Dole left to run for president.

Mr. Brownback acknowledged that he would be one of the lesser-known candidates in what is expected to be a crowded field of Republican presidential hopefuls, including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.

He said his bid might be “a long shot,” but he compared himself to other successful presidential candidates who had come from behind, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. He said his ideas would separate him from the pack.

“I start out with less name ID, but I’ve been there before,” Mr. Brownback said at a news conference after his speech in Topeka, Kan. “My positions are at the heart of where the Republican Party is.”

With his opposition to abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and same-sex marriage, Mr. Brownback hopes to establish himself as the dominant conservative in the race. The American Conservative Union, which hails him as one of “the best of the best” in the Senate, gave him a 100 percent conservative rating in its most recent survey of Congress.

In recent weeks, Mr. Brownback has been emboldened by the struggles of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, whose conservative credentials have come under attack because of questions about his evolving positions on abortion and gay rights. Mr. Brownback said Saturday that he planned to march in an anti-abortion rally in Washington on Monday.

But Mr. Brownback has also broken with Republicans on some issues. He supports putting most of the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, for instance. And this month, he joined many Congressional Democrats in announcing that he opposed President Bush’s plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

Paul M. Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative research group, praised Mr. Brownback for his commitment to conservative principles. But he questioned whether the senator had the charisma to prevail. “If he can prove that, then he will have a shot,” Mr. Weyrich said. “If not, then his conservatism will not be enough to carry him.”
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[smelter]

^I saw Brownback being interviewed a few times on TV. He appears uniquely unqualified to be President. Someone who, the more you find out about him, the less you wish you knew. Rolling Stone magazine did a piece on Brownback that should be required reading for anyone who believes in the separation of Church and State:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator/

 

[JackFTwist]

Remember too, that this is the guy blocking a judicial appointment here in Michigan just because the nominee attended a lesbian commitment ceremony as a guest. Guilt by association.

Janet Neff, on our state court of appeals, is a quiet competent Republican conservative judge (and person) who I voted for because she is good judge. That Brownback blocked her nomination by Bush is astounding. The lesbian wedding (held in Massachusetts) involved long time family friends and neighbors and she attended as a friend. Brownback has demanded that in order to drop his block, that she promise to recuse herself from any cases dealing with gender discrimination and marriage.

Janet Neff is such a conservative (and I restate, competent and fair) judge - he picked the wrong target. She is well known in western Michigan and if attending a friend's family event makes one a target, that is an attack on the basic neighborliness we pride ourselves for. Brownback misplayed this one.

 

[Ramindra]

Somehow, his name is not appealing........

 

[Centexfarmer]

It's people like Brownback that give the Republican Party a bad name.

Frankly the guy scares me! :

 

[Roland00]

He isn't very "scary," he doesn't have much power nor does he have charisma he is actually quite boring. He is just one of those "wackos" who the "wackos" don't find "wacko," yet the vast majority of the nation find him to be out there and "wacko."

 

[teh_nathan]

Yeah, in my blog's "incoming links" section, his site is listed but I have yet to figure out exactly how he's linking to me.

 

[sparky95]

Somehow, his name is not appealing........

I was thinking the very same thing!

 

[OtterJoq]

Just another hate-mongering Repuglicunt.

Yawn.

 

[Sausy]

^I saw Brownback being interviewed a few times on TV. He appears uniquely unqualified to be President. Someone who, the more you find out about him, the less you wish you knew. Rolling Stone magazine did a piece on Brownback that should be required reading for anyone who believes in the separation of Church and State:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator/

Saw the article,and the man is a religious opportunist(Methodist,evangelical,now Dark Ages Opus Dei loving Catholic extremist)and dangerous.I'm opposed to most abortions,but his whole philosophy is reactionary.This IS a wingnut.I am appalled by and dead set against his type of firebrand conservative extemism.His political vision is a theocracy where faith and free markets take care of all,and his take on politicians serving one constituent-God-is stunning and blatantly unconstitutional.

 

[Sausy]

Somehow, his name is not appealing........

Once in his family tree it was Brownshirt...but it connotated a negative impression,so...just kidding on that one,but it fits and hadn't been said yet(surprisingly) so I ran with it!