The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

According to an AP article, he just might:

Candidates are supposed to enjoy the unquestioned backing of their parties in their home states for the obvious benefits it could bring to the state. In 1996, when Bob Dole was the GOP nominee, there seemed no question from the beginning that he would enjoy the support of any Kansas Republican of any prominence.

However, there are questions about whether Brownback can say the same.

Not only does his strong opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research bother moderates, but many believe he has actively helped push the state GOP to the right.

“Sen. Brownback has got to reach out to traditional Republicans, and he doesn’t seem too eager to do that,” Ryan Wright, executive director of the moderate Kansas Traditional Republican Majority, said Monday. “That leaves their votes up for grabs.”

I think it really says something when you are too extreme for the Kansas Republican Party. I have heard many of the same arguments coming from some of my Republican friends. Perhaps it is people swinging away from the hardcore Christian conservative mindset. I would note that Operation Rescue (the aborted fetus truck people) tried to stage another massive protest in Wichita that only managed to turn out 20 people.

• **Americablog notes Sam Brownback’s refusal to take a personal position on gay adoption. John thinks this may be due to the Mary Cheney effect, but I would argue this is part of Brownback’s neccesary (but slight) moderation as he looks to prove to the GOP base that he is not a total loon and he just might be electable in the general election.
• **The Rights Field has the text of Brownback’s announcement and also remarks that, “There are a few phrases that Brownback uses repeatedly – great nation, American-sized goals, goodness.” I would add “covered in ‘The Jesus’”, but that’s just me…
• **RedState.com (a conservative blog) note’s Senator Brownback’s presidential announcement with the headline: “Thus Begins a Quixotic Quest”. The folks that write and hang out on RedState aren’t exactly moderate. Brownback will have to convince them, and those like them, that he is a serious candidate.

The Wichita Eagle notes that Brownback has announced he will add the flat tax to his Presidential platform:

Remember the flat tax? The policy proposal gained traction among conservative politicians for a while in the 1990s, but it withered amid little real-world political support.

Now it’s back, as a fiscal policy cornerstone of Sen. Sam Brownback’s campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

It calls for earned income to be taxed at the same marginal rate, unlike the current system, which has different tax brackets for different incomes. Typically, proponents of a flat tax call for eliminating most deductions except for a sizable individual exemption.

“We need a flat tax instead of the dreadful, incomprehensible tax code we now have,” Brownback wrote in the letter that announced the creation of his presidential exploratory committee.

Frequent visitors to TheAntiSam will remember Brownback’s previous flirtation with the flat tax. In March of 2006, Brownback held hearings on the Flat Tax with the stated goal of implementing it in Washington D.C.

Over at The Right’s Field, Matt makes an interesting comment on Brownback’s adoption of the flat tax platform for his presidential campaign:

What this does do, though, is define Brownback as a candidate with strong beliefs at a time when other leading Republican contenders are regularly lambasted for flip-flops and shifting political visions. Not every Republican will go for a flat tax, but it will certainly distinguish Brownback from other candidates – just as his stance on the Iraq war is unique for GOP candidates (save Pataki). Unlike Chuck Hagel, whose only hope is through voters valuing his principles, Brownback’s principles have appeal to a larger segment of the primary voting base. Standing up for one’s beliefs is a tactic that I’d recommend to any politician; it just happens to be something that can realistically be expect to propel Brownback to the nomination.

I agree. Brownback is certainly positioning himself as the candidate with principles. Perhaps not all GOP primary voters with agree with his principles, but compared to the other jokers in the running, Brownback comes out looking the least wishy-washy on the issues that matter most in the Republican Primary.

Noam Scheiber of the New Republic reads into Brownback’s stance on Iraq:

So what is Brownback up to? On one level it’s pretty obvious. John McCain and, to varying degrees, the rest of the GOP field have cast their lot with Bush and the surge. There’s nothing for a longshot like Brownback to gain by falling in line behind them, and plenty to gain by distinguishing himself on the issue. That’s particularly true given the exceedingly likely possibility that the surge will fail, at which point Brownback will look somewhere between sober and prophetic.

More interestingly, the move turns out to be pretty welcome among Brownback’s desired base of social conservatives. While 52 percent of Republicans support the surge according to a just-released AP/Ipsos poll, some 60 percent of white evangelicals oppose [a troop surge in Iraq], as do 56 percent of self-described conservatives. So we’re actually talking about a twofer here: shore up your base while positioning yourself to poach votes from the other guys. (Actually, a three-fer, since this has the added merit of being the substantively sane position.) Not bad for a day’s work.

I’ve always maintained that Brownback is crazy like a fox…