The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

More and more people are beginning to take notice of Brownback’s candidacy for president in 2008. George Will wrote a good piece Sunday for Newsweek that lays out the pros of a Brownback run. There is prominent mention of the small town that Senator Brownback hails from (Parker, KS) along with that town’s population (281). I suppose that is to make him seem down to earth. I don’t buy it.

The most interesting part of the article, and the piece of information I had not heard before was when Will discussed Brownback’s chief opponent for the Christian conservative vote:

Brownback, who is not coy about his interest in the 2008 nomination, doubts that Santorum—a friend and former Capitol Hill roommate who participated in Brownback’s recent conversion to Roman Catholicism—will seek that nomination. Brownback notes that the first mini-event of the next presidential cycle—the Ames, Iowa, straw poll in August 2007—will come just nine months after Santorum’s re-election campaign ends. Other candidates will have had more time to organize in Iowa. And, Brownback says, Santorum is young, so he can wait. Santorum is 20 months younger than Brownback.

There are many people who believe that Santorum will not manage to get reelected next year. Even if he wins, as the article points out campaigning for president will already be well underway. The era of the four year campaign for president is upon us. I personally don’t believe that Santorum will run for president. If his Senate race was uncontested or weakly contested he might try for it. However, Bob Casey will be a formidable opponent. While I don’t like Casey’s positions on women’s rights, by being anti-choice he cuts the legs out from underneath Santorum’s supportive base.

This leaves Brownback sitting pretty.