The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

David Broder has a column in the Denver Post that uses Senator Sam Brownback as a barometer to guage the President’s support with conservatives over the domestic spying issue:

No member of the Senate is more conservative than Sam Brownback of Kansas - a loyal Republican, an ardent opponent of abortion and, not coincidentally, a presidential hopeful for 2008.

And that is why the misgivings he expressed Monday about the surveillance policies Bush has employed in the war on terror are so striking… Brownback emerged as part of a potential majority that could insist that Bush come back to Congress for authority to continue the wiretaps - but under court supervision.

In questioning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Brownback said, “It strikes me that we’re going to be in this war on terrorism possibly for decades … \[and\] to have another set of eyes also looking at this surveillance technique is an important thing in maintaining the public’s support for this.” What Brownback put in gentle terms is exactly the issue that clearly troubled all but six of the 18 senators in the hearing - the absence of any external checks on the secret wiretapping the president ordered after the Sept. 11 attacks.

What Broder fails to recognize is that President Bush’s approval ratings are so low Brownback is benefited by being on the other side of certain issues.  His stance on the spying scandal is a shrewed political move that you can be certain he will use to his advantage later in the campaign season.