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Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Contenders: Sam Brownback

posted by on January 11 at 13:54 PM

Sure, November 2008 is nearly two years away, but it’s apparently never too early to declare one’s intention to run for president, and thus it’s never too early to get to know the people who might be the next leader of the free world. This month we’ll be taking a brief look at them.

Sam Brownback.jpg

Sam Brownback

Party: Republican

Age: 50

Status: Will Enter Race Jan. 20

www.brownback.com

After Sen. Sam Brownback announces his entrance into the 2008 presidential race later this month in Topeka, Kansas, he will, according to the plan laid out by his spokesman, fly straight back to Washington, D.C., to participate in an anti-abortion march marking the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade ruling. It’s a fitting maneuver for a conservative Catholic who rode into the House of Representatives during the Republican Revolution in 1994 and quickly made the jump to the Senate.

Brownback was born in tiny Parker, Kansas, and first got into politics as a student at Kansas State University, campaigning for Ronald Reagan during Reagan’s unsuccessful run against Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination. He earned a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1982.

He opposes abortion and gay rights, promotes the teaching of intelligent design, and is, in a way, casting himself as the non-Mormon version of Mitt Romney. While Evangelical Christians tend to align with Romney’s positions on social issues, they also tend to look down Mormons as members of a “cult.” Brownback, being a Catholic, doesn’t have that problem.

Brownback has been understood to say that he does not believe the Constitution guarantees a right to privacy. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee he has, however, expressed some concerns about the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping program. He is a fiscal conservative and a moderate on capitol punishment.

And this week he broke from other Republican contenders by announcing that he doesn’t support Bush’s plan for a troop surge in Iraq.

Brownback is married to a Topeka newspaper heiress and the couple has five children.

(With research help from super-star intern Sage Van Wing)

Previously: John Edwards, John McCain, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and Barack Obama.

RSS icon Comments

1

I liked the version in the paper MUCH better, especially closing so eloquently with - "he's a total asshole".

Posted by longball | January 11, 2007 2:20 PM
2

Evangelicals don't exactly love Catholics, although they certainly despise Mormons more.

Posted by keshmeshi | January 11, 2007 2:56 PM
3

in christ-like gesture of craziness, brownback once washed the feet of his staffers. true story. i heard it on howard stern.

Posted by Garbes | January 11, 2007 3:19 PM
4

All Christian Sects that are not of the one universal church are cults. Sister Marv Albert always said so.

Posted by Pope Urbane | January 11, 2007 4:32 PM
5

"in christ-like gesture of craziness, brownback once washed the feet of his staffers."

Er, washing people's feet doesn't automatically make you crazy. It is a symbol of respect among Hindus. If he washed the people's feet and then tried to dry them with his hair like Mary Magdalene, THAT would be weird.

I think there are enough indications that Brownback is screwy without indicting his religious gestures.

Posted by PG | January 11, 2007 4:44 PM
6

Another waste of money. Won't happen.

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 11, 2007 5:10 PM
7

"While Evangelical Christians tend to align with Romney's positions on social issues, they also tend to look down Mormons as members of a "cult." Brownback, being a Catholic, doesn't have that problem."

You're fucking kidding, right Eli?

My wife grew up Catholic in Oklahoma. Most of her Protestant friends did, indeed, regard her as part of a cult.

Posted by The Zero Boss | January 11, 2007 7:44 PM
8

If he gets the nod, and wants to double down on the rightwing religious, can we look forward to a Brownback-Santorum ticket?

Posted by Carl Ballard | January 11, 2007 9:11 PM
9

Holy Rollers in Flyover Country hate everybody that is not on their Bus. Let 'em rot in whatever their Hell is made of. Probably Blacks and Jews.

Posted by Wookie Milson | January 11, 2007 10:02 PM
10

How can you be a "moderate on capital punishment"? He's only for executing people in moderation? With capital punishment, you're either fer it or agin' it.

Posted by Mike | January 12, 2007 12:41 AM
11

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12

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