The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

An article in today’s Topeka Capital Journal discusses Senator Sam Brownback’s recent travels and goes over much of the same old information that has been circling for months. However, one part did jump out at me. They interviewed some people in Brownback’s hometown, the tiny hamlet of Parker, and asked them if they thought he would make a good president. As the article points out, there is no doubt that in a presidential election he would carry Linn County, but some residents expressed some trepidation at the thought of Brownback going national:

Former Parker Mayor Tony Borum, who runs a metal fabrication shop in town, said Brownback’s parents, Bob and Nancy, are fine people. Their son’s brand of conservatism accurately reflects the majority of his Kansas constituents, Borum said.

If that is where the senator held the political line, Borum would be content.

“When you start talking about Brownback the president, you have to raise an eyebrow,” he said. “He would not make a good president because of his alignment with radicals.”

This is further evidence that even here in red Kansas, there is an ongoing fight between the moderate “Bob Dole” republicans and the crazy, hateful evangelical Christian republicans that have invaded the state in the last 10 years. Additionally, it seems that some of Brownback’s constituents aren’t happy that he spends his time in Washington D.C. dealing with issues that get a lot of public attention but have little effect on rural America:

Kim Johnson… said she has been a close friend of Brownback for 30 years. They went to school together. He consoled her when a friend died. He introduced his future wife to her. Johnson received “for your eyes only” notes from the senator. She believes Brownback to be a moral person.

But she is drafting a letter to him outlining reasons that it may be necessary to end their friendship.

“He needs to get back to his roots,” Johnson said. “He’s concerned about international affairs. His heart is in Sudan. But is he going to do anything for our economy? He’s not been there for education. He’s not voting for the minimum wage, and I know people struggling in his hometown to pay the bills.”

I don’t know of any republican who wants to raise the minimum wage, but education is an issue that Brownback has not focused on yet is very important to rural America. People in Kansas knew from the start that No Child Left Behind didn’t make sense for the reality of a rural school district. They are fed up with being told the federal government is further regulating the schools. This issue in particular I know has hurt Brownback’s following here.

The key though, is that the religious fervor that has swept Kansas overrides all of that. Many Kansans couldn’t care less if their kids are getting an awful education as long as scientists in California are unable to use discarded cells from in vitro fertilization. It is ignorant and irrational, but it is reality here in Kansas.