The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

We all know that Senator Sam Brownback supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade and criminalization of abortion. In What’s the Matter With Kansas, Thomas Frank mentioned several times that many Conservatives don’t actually want Roe overturned. Abortion serves them well as an issue to inflame the base but would destroy moderate support if banned. Now a Republican House member tells the truth:

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the Government Reform Committee, said the desire of GOP conservatives to see a newly constituted Supreme Court eventually overturn Roe v. Wade could produce a political backlash, particularly in the suburbs. “It would be a sea change in suburban voting patterns,” Davis said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

“If Roe v. Wade is overturned,” Davis said, “you’re going to have a lot of very nervous suburban candidates out there. . . . It’s easy to say you’re for a culture of life, but the answer is what do you do about it at that point.”

If Brownback really got what he wanted, it would be the end of the Republican party. Republicans need abortion to remain a contentious, but available (to rich whites) issue in order to continue winning elections.

I have always wondered whether Brownback is a true believer. I get the feeling that many conservatives talk the talk on abortion and gay marriage solely to get the votes. I don’t think many of them actually care. Senator Brownback, however, is a tough case to figure out. His rhetoric often rises above simple bigoted screeds to a level of vitriol that seems to be genuine.

Perhaps someday we’ll get memos or memoirs that tell the true story. Until then, just remember that he is crazy like a fox and dangerous.