The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

[This C-SPAN interview will run on Sunday at 8pm and 11pm. My readers get it here first]

Note that Brownback won’t discuss numbers on the money raised. He doesn’t have much money. One could say that his warchest is lacking.

LAMB: Let‘s go back running for president. When did you start the process of even thinking about it?

BROWNBACK: It has been probably a year-and-half ago of considering it, making some initial contacts with individuals. And I say no final decision has been made yet, although the things to start to move more rapidly coming into the next year.

LAMB: Have you term-limited yourself?

BROWNBACK: Yes. I am personally term-limited. I did that when I first ran for the U.S. Senate.

LAMB: 2010 no more, no matter what, you are not going to run again.

BROWNBACK: I stated at that point. I stated when I first ran for the U.S. Senate that I would run for two full terms. You may recall Bob Dole resigned. I ran for his seat. Was elected in ‘96, re-elected in ‘98. At that point in time I had stated I believe in terms limits, two full terms. So I was just re-elected in 2004 for my second full term.

LAMB: So what does someone like you do if you want to think about running for president? How big a group do you have working on it right now?

BROWNBACK: It‘s not a huge group. And it‘s — but it is expanding. And you start creating a network of individuals and groups across the country to talk with, to hopefully be motivated and engaged and say that this is the type of person that I want to be president of the United States.

LAMB: How much money have you raised?

BROWNBACK: I don‘t know the exact numbers, where we are to-date. And none of it is raised for a presidential race to-date, simply because I‘m not a candidate for president. But people do and we do raise money into the leadership PAC and work through and I work through and with that.

LAMB: How many places have you gone where it‘s related to the possibility that you will run for president already?

BROWNBACK: Well, I have been in Iowa five times, been to New Hampshire a couple of times, South Carolina. And then traveling a number of different places across the country, and particularly early primary states. Because as you know it‘s not a national race initially.

It‘s a three-state race initially. And that balloons past that point. But, you know, to-date most of these presidential races have been decided in those early primary states.

LAMB: So what‘s the first thing you want an audience to know about you right out of the box? Say you are making your presentation, what do you want them to know?

BROWNBACK: I‘m an honest straight-shooter is the first thing. That I think it‘s important for people to believe that this is an honorable, honest man. I may look at you and say, I disagree with this policy issue or I disagree with that one, but you want to first and foremost to say, OK, this is an honest, honorable man.