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Brownback to Endorse McCain By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Sam Brownback, a Kansas conservative and favorite of evangelical Christians, will endorse his former Republican presidential rival John McCain, GOP officials said Wednesday. The nod could provide a much-needed boost, particularly in Iowa, for the Arizona senator and one-time presumed GOP front-runner whose bid faltered and is now looking for a comeback. Republican officials said Brownback will announce his support for McCain later Wednesday in Dubuque, Iowa, and then travel with the candidate to campaign in two other cities in the state. The officials spoke on...

WASHINGTON - Republican Sam Brownback will drop out of the 2008 presidential campaign on Friday, people close to the Kansas senator said Thursday. Brownback, a longshot conservative contender, had trouble raising money to compete in the race. He is expected announce his withdrawal in Topeka, Kan. He raised a little more than $800,000 in the third quarter of this year, his lowest quarterly amount since entering race. He has brought in more than $4 million overall and is eligible for $2 million in federal matching funds.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a sign that Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback is seeking the pro-life mantle among the candidates competing for the Republican nomination for president, his campaign is going after Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. Brownback's camp says the fellow GOP presidential candidate accepted money from a pro-abortion activist. Brownback's team has been taking shots at top-tier candidates, including repeatedly going after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But, on Monday, the campaign complained that Tancredo has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Dr. John Tanton, a founder of a major Planned Parenthood network. According to FEC donation...

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback says he harbored a "hatred" of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton until he experienced a religious awakening in the mid-1990s. "I was considering what I should say when I confronted all the anger that I held for the Clintons," the Kansas senator writes in the book, "From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion." "I thought, I hate them for what they are doing to the country and I feel justified in hating them for it," he writes. But Brownback says he realized there is never justification for hating someone regardless...

As is becoming a pre-debate/forum/being-in-the-same-room-as-Romney ritual, Brownback is attacking Romney’s controversial stance on… agriculture? (They’re going to be in Iowa tomorrow -- there’s the hook -- for the Iowa Christian Alliance/Iowans for Tax Relief Forum).“Romney suggested eliminating the Department of Agriculture and reducing farm subsidies during his unsuccessful 1994 Senate race in Massachusetts,” the first line of the memo states. By contrast, Brownback “grew up on a farm” and “has always made farmers and agriculture a priority,” says his Iowa communications director. We’ll let you know when we hear of -- yet another -- response from the Romney campaign. ********UPDATE************...

Brownback Writes of 'Hatred' of Clintons Jun 29 05:08 PM US/Eastern By SAM HANANEL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Sam Brownback says he harbored a "hatred" of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton until he experienced a religious awakening in the mid-1990s. Brownback, a Republican presidential hopeful, details in a new book how the change in outlook led him to make a stunning apology to Hillary Clinton a few years later during a Senate prayer breakfast. "I was considering what I should say when I confronted all the anger that I held for the Clintons," the Kansas senator writes in...

If you are an avid reader of this web log, you'll know that I sometimes put some of the upcoming political events in a header of "Path of the Cyclone: Calendar". Well, let me tell you, after driving the 3 plus hours to Ames on Thursday afternoon, I pulled into my favorite convenient store to get some Diet Pepsi and the sirens started going crazy. What was approaching? A Cyclone (tornado/twister). I headed over to Main Street to the old depot area and checked out the Brownback office that was being opened that night. It is a nice location with...

Washington — When voting began Thursday on whether to advance President Bush’s immigration bill, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback was among the first lawmakers to vote “yes.” About 10 minutes later, Brownback switched his vote to “no.” But don’t bother accusing the Republican presidential hopeful of flip-flopping — he says he did it on purpose. “I wanted to signal that I support comprehensive immigration reform, but now is not the time, this is not the bill,” Brownback said. Brownback explained that his “yes” vote initially was to “showcase” that reform is needed. The switch to “no” was because he didn’t think...

Brownback Scrubs Website of Earlier Immigration Vote by: Ben Weyl Thursday (06/28) at 14:08 PM Eleven minutes after voting in favor of cloture on the Senate immigration bill, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback changed his mind—and his vote—to oppose cloture, MSNBC reported earlier today. Now it seems that the Brownback campaign has changed its mind again, this time on a press release it produced just days ago. On Tuesday, June 26, the campaign released a statement after Brownback voted in favor of cloture. The statement originally appeared here. It’s now gone, but was cached and can be seen here.In a...

Meet Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas. He wants to be President of the United States. But on the most critical homeland security issues of our time, he can’t make up his mind and stick to it. On the morning of June 28, 2007, he was for the illegal alien amnesty bill…before he was against it… For it…then against it… That’s right. He changed his mind and changed his vote in the span of 11 minutes! Sam Brownback. Leadership only John Kerry could love.

Brownback Votes Against Senate Immigration Bill - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today voted against the Senate immigration bill. "I voted against the Senate immigration bill because I am not convinced it would fix our broken immigration system and it would most likely repeat the mistakes of the 1986 reform," said Brownback. The immigration bill failed earlier today on a 46-53 procedural vote that required 60 votes for the bill to advance to a final vote.

Say, how come there are 47 yes votes when the roll says there were only 46? Ah, my friends, that’s because Sam Brownback turned out to be the weaseliest “no” vote of all. He voted yes right at the very beginning, during the alphabetical vote, probably thinking that cloture was going to pass. Then, when it died, he switched to a no. I almost wish he was pulling more than 1% in the presidential polls so we could hammer him into oblivion with that. As it is, I’ve captured his moment of shame for posterity on video. I think that’s...

The official roll breaks down the vote alphabetically, by state, and of course by vote. What it doesn’t do is tell you the order they voted in, which is critical to understanding (or at least inferring) motive. They’re supposed to vote in alphabetical order, but if they’re not present when the roll is called — or if they are present but would rather keep mum to see how things are shaking out — they get skipped, and can then approach the podium afterwards, when they see fit, to cast their ballot. So here’s how it went, based on a once-through...

Here is a spreadsheet detailing the votes on the immigration bill and its amendments. Excel 2003: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ou6kwa Excel 2007: http://www.sendspace.com/file/21i5ps It contains some statistics as well as contact information for each senator - please call or fax to let them know how you feel! The statistics at the right and bottom provide some add'l analysis to help focus your letters, emails, calls, etc.

WASHINGTON - An aide to GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) has been reprimanded for sending e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders in an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny to rival Mitt Romney's Mormonism. Emma Nemecek, the southeastern Iowa field director for Brownback's presidential campaign and a former state representative candidate, violated campaign policy when she forwarded the June 6 e-mail from an interest group raising the questions, the Brownback campaign said Sunday. The e-mail requested help in fact-checking a series of statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the statements: "Theologically, the...

Taylors, S.C., Jun 12, 2007 / 10:44 am (CNA).- Senator Sam Brownback, who is a Republican candidate for president, called for the defense of marriage and innocent human life at the National Catholic Men’s Conference on Saturday. Sen. Brownback, a Roman Catholic, attended the conference to talk about bringing his faith into public life. In introducing the Kansas Republican, organizer Steve Wood criticized Catholic politicians who separate their faith lives from their public lives, reported The Associated Press. “I don’t know about you, but this stuff by many Catholic politicians who say, ‘I’m personally opposed, but...’ But what?" Wood reportedly said....

To further educate voters about Republican contenders for the presidency, it is fitting to examine the ideas of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, a generally reliable social and economic conservative, many of whose suggested policies are in accord with the principles of limited government. Here, I will examine the strong points of Brownback's platform, as well as the positions where his vagueness hurts him and hinders voters' understanding of his true intentions.

WASHINGTON - Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said Thursday he would not support a resolution drafted by Democrats opposing President Bush's Iraq plan, but he could back a rival proposal that contains less partisan language. Brownback, among the first Republican lawmakers to publicly break with the president over a troop increase in Iraq, said the resolution approved this week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is too divisive. "I think what we ought to be discussing now as these resolutions move forward is what we should support, not what we're opposed to, and what we can pull together on, not what...

Dear Friend, I have decided, after much prayerful consideration, to consider a bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency. I am running to spread hope and ideas. We are a blessed nation at an important crossroads. War, corruption, disintegrating families, and for some, hopelessness, tear at the American Dream. We need hope and ideas. I am running for America…to be of service in a crucial time of trial. Ours is an exceptional nation. A nation between two oceans made up of people from every nation on earth. A great nation united by our ideals. But we are a great...

I have decided, after much prayerful consideration, to consider a bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency. I am running to spread hope and ideas. We are a blessed nation at an important crossroads. War, corruption, disintegrating families, and for some, hopelessness, tear at the American Dream. We need hope and ideas. I am running for America…to be of service in a crucial time of trial. Ours is an exceptional nation. A nation between two oceans made up of people from every nation on earth. A great nation united by our ideals. But we are a great nation because...