The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

So it turns out that Mitt Romney, back in the 1990’s, thought gays and lesbians were people entitled to rights and representation. While that doesn’t sound like a big deal to mainstream America, the extemists that make up the republican presidential primary are less than pleased.

Yesterday in Iowa, Senator Sam Brownback was asked about Romney’s one time support of gay rights. He punted the question:

Asked if favoring gay rights would doom a candidate in the GOP primary season, Brownback said: “I don’t know about that. I mean, where are you on taxes? The base of the party is issue-oriented and issue-driven, so those are significant things.”

Brownback said it’s far too early to dismiss candidates because of their views on volatile issues such as gay rights.

“We are way, way early in this process, so I wouldn’t rule anybody out or in at this point in time,” said Brownback.

Sure, this fits with the “compassionate” bit that Brownback is trying to play, but he has to attack, attack, attack if he hopes to have any chance at the nomination. Brownback needs to rile his backwards, extremist and bigoted voters into a frenzy of delusion that he could ever become President.

Ducking out of a chance to criticize another candidate who holds more liberal views is no way to stage a come-from-behind victory.

In presidential politics, the term “Whale” refers to the biggest of the big donors. Since they are limited by campaign finance laws from giving more than $2100 to a candidate, they bundle their donation with those of their rich friends. On the republican side, President Bush named these fundraisers pioneers ($100,000) and rangers($200,000).

The Washington Post reports that John McCain and Mitt Romney are competing for these pioneers and rangers at a frantic pace. It also notes:

Other potential 2008 GOP candidates, including former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Sens. Sam Brownback (Kan.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.), are far behind in the pursuit of these fundraising big shots.

This is Brownback’s biggest weakness. At a certain point, it all comes down to money. He has never had to raise very much for his senate races and his lack of a high profile will hamper finding new donors. It remains to be seen whether the evangelical base that supports him with prayers will also support him with their wallets.

Brownback’s campaign staff has previously stated that they expect Iowa to be do or die for fundraising. If he does surprisingly well in Iowa, the money could come in. But running in Iowa isn’t cheap, and he will have to have a decent chunk of change in order to even be competitive.

Appearing on Fox News, Senator Sam Brownback seemed to be fed up with the pace of the war in Iraq:

BROWNBACK: And we’ve invested nearly 3,000 American lives, precious lives to each and every one of us in this country. I — I think the American public has been pretty patient. And I think we’ve been quite patient. It’s time to move forward.

WALLACE: But let me — I don’t want to put words in your mouth, Senator Brownback, and I’m sure I won’t, but I get the sense that you’re getting a little close to jumping ship on the president’s policy.

BROWNBACK: I’m not — I’m not jumping ship. I just think it’s time that we really put pressure on the situation. And we’ve been very patient with this, and we’ve invested a lot.

This is a gutsy strategy which could pay off big for him in Republican primary.

A comment on an earlier post questioned whether I was supporting Brownback’s Iraq policy. I don’t feel that I know enough about the situation in Iraq to endorse a specific course of action. However, I can tell that the current course of action is not working, and that we need change. I think Brownback can tap into Republican frustration with the war, especially it’s high cost, and could differentiate himself from the field.

According to the AP:

On another issue sure to be central to his would-be campaign, Brownback said the country is finally serious about taking the steps to reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

As part of a broader energy plan, the senator said he would be willing to consider changing his position on fuel economy standards to require automakers to make vehicles that go farther on a gallon of gas. Brownback has opposed a raise in the so-called CAFE standards but said he would support one as long as it wasn’t too steep to endanger the U.S. auto industry while it is at financial risk.

Not a position that will win him votes in Michigan, but when mixed with a large helping of ethanol worship I’m sure it will go over fine in Iowa.

In a dramatic departure from the rank and file GOP talking points on Iraq, Senator Sam Brownback is advocating a partitioning of Iraq by religious lines in order to quell the never-ending violence that is plaguing the country. The AP reports:

“We are not willing to impose a military solution in Iraq. The Iraqis, I don’t believe, are going to be capable of imposing a military solution. Therefore, you must get to some form of political equilibrium in Iraq. And by that I think you may end up having to have a Kurdish, a Sunni, a Shiite area, and Baghdad being a federal capital. Hopefully you can maintain it in one country,” he said.

This is exactly the kind of risk that Senator Sam Brownback will need to take if he is going to be competetive in the republican primary for President. While John McCain wants to throw more troops at the problem and Romney doesn’t have a clue what he wants to do, Brownback is coming out with a tough solution that just may resonate with the republican primary voters.

Another striking piece of the equation is Senator Brownback’s choice of words when describing a good outcome:

Therefore, you must get to some form of political equilibrium in Iraq.

So now mere equilibrium is a success. The sad part is, equilibrium is likely the best case scenario.

I’ll leave the implementation problems for a later post, but Brownback is certainly going to keep his press run going with this new proposal.

Almost:

“OK. I’m Sam Brownback. That’s B-R-O-W-N-B …”

Standing before a TV camera Tuesday for his first local media interview since launching a presidential exploratory committee, Sen. Sam Brownback answered a reporter’s request that he spell his name.

Iowans such as Linda Rydak, a Cedar Rapids waitress, acknowledged, “I’d be lying if I told you that I’ve ever heard of Sam Brownback.”

The entire Kansas City Star article is pretty funny.

According to the Des Moines Register, it’s all about the money:

His message to Linn County Republicans attending a campaign kickoff fundraiser at the Longbranch Best Western in Cedar Rapids was that Republicans can learn lessons from a national tide toward Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections.

“The Republican base is a fiscal restraint base,” he said. “That didn’t get done.”

Yep, I’m sure fiscal restraint ranked real high on public opinion polls right before the election. If I remember correctly, there was something about a war in there as well…

Good ‘ole Tom Monaghan. If the name of one of Brownback’s senior advisers seems familiar, think “30 minutes or it’s free” or “Get the door, it’s Domino’s!”. Yep, the billionaire that once owned Domino’s pizza is also an extreme evangelical Catholic and thus a fervent Brownback supporter.

You might have heard Monaghan’s name in the news recently regarding the university he is building in the middle of the Florida swamps. Ave Maria will be a planned community around the Catholic University of the same name. That, however, is not what made the news. A huge uproar occurred when it was reported that Monaghan will not allow any form of contraceptives to be sold in his town.

• No Condoms
• No Hormonal Birth Control
• No Spermicidal Gels

Kudos to the first reporter who asks Brownback, “Do you agree with your close adviser Tom Monaghan that all contraceptives should be banned?”

If Brownback has advisers like this now, imagine what his cabinet could be like in 2 years…

Nothing new here for regular readers of TheAntiSam, but a good summation of Brownback’s closest advisers:

* David Kensinger: Kensinger has been with Brownback since his first race — for the House in 1994. Kensinger served as Brownback’s chief of staff for a time and has also done stints at Wirthlin Worldwide, a Republican polling firm, and as executive director at GOPAC. He now has his own consulting firm based in Topeka.

* Rob Wasinger: Brownback’s current chief of staff, Wasinger is moving over to help lead the presidential exploratory committee. Wasinger has been with Brownback for a decade, serving a variety of roles including understudy to Kensinger. Wasinger also worked for former Kansas Gov. Bill Graves (R) and Rep. Jerry Moran (R).

* Paul Wilson: Wilson is a partner in the media consulting firm of Wilson Grand Communications, which has long handled Brownback’s television advertising. The firm has also done work for Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts and, more recently, the ill-fated Senate bid of Rep. Katherine Harris in Florida.

* Tom Monaghan: The founder of Domino’s Pizza, Monaghan is a major force within the evangelical movement. He was one of a handful of supporters named to Brownback’s exploratory advisory committee and will likely play a lead role in the fundraising operation that the senator will put in place for a national race.

Over the last year, I’ve had several people tell me strange things about Rob Wasinger. I’ve never written about them because I don’t want to traffic in pure rumor. However, if anyone else out their has information on Rob, or any other Brownback advisers, I would love to hear about it.