On the cyber trail, Brownback campaigns, bloggers spoof

In the online world, where Sen. Sam Brownback (or his campaign) has set up a MySpace page and a robust, blog-filled homepage, the Kansan is taking some apparently comedic hits for his socially conservative views.

Consider this story today in The Denver Post:

"... And if you peruse some of the blogs supposedly authored by his supporters, such as baptistsforbrownback(baptistsforbrown2008.wordpress.com), you'll see that he believes in lots of other things too. Like that the Earth is flat - and does not revolve around the sun. And that rape should be referred to as an "unplanned sexual event" in order to "eliminate the excuses given by many women" for getting an abortion." The Post also lists blogs4brownback.wordpress.com as one of the parody sites.

Later in The Post's story, Brigham Young University political scientist Richard Davis says: "Sites like these don't sway undecided voters or push away (Brownback's) supporters. I think the biggest effect is that it's embarrassing for the candidate."

When politicians fumble in Favre country

Referencing the hometown team will almost always buy a political candidate some applause -- after all, even if the crowd isn't excited about the candidate, most people stand behind the team. The flip side to that is if you mention the competition.

Over the weekend, Sen. Sam Brownback dropped the Peyton Manning bomb in Brett Favre country. The crowd let him know, according to an Associated Press story that several news websites picked up this weekend.After he realized his analogy flopped, he backtracked. "That's really bad," he said. "That will go down in history. I apologize."

"Let's take Favre then," Brownback said later. "The Packers are great. I'm sorry. How many passes does he complete without a line?"

"All of them!" more than one person yelled from the back of the room.

MySpace the land of fertile political ground

If you're running for president there are several things you have to have in your campaign:

A communications director to help craft your message to the American people
Tons of volunteers to help run the campaign
A myspace page

A myspace page? Yes. Candidates vying for their party's nomination have a myspace page and Sen. Sam Brownback isn't any different.

A voter can learn alot about Brownback from his page such as he's a married, Virgo, Catholic with more than 6,000 friends on the social networking website. Voters will also be able to view a video of Brownback speaking on what he stands for and what the country needs in their next president. And if voters are confused at all by the video, 15 clickable icons will tell his stance on a variety of issues including marriage, the Iraq war, culture and values and education.

And yes there's a blog and a list of interests like his favorite movie (Amazing Grace) and books (Lord of the Rings and the Bible).

How did Brownback fare in the GOP debate?

One way to gauge a candidate's impact at a debate like the Republican presidential debate Thursday night is to see how many of their words made it into major news stories from outlets such as the Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

On this front, Sen. Sam Brownback did better than many in the crowded GOP field. The Kansan, who trails several candidates in polls and fundraising, was largely in the shadows in most national wire stories last night. But a Republican political consultant with Politico.com, which sponsored the debate, wrote that Brownback "had a particularly strong night. He talked with passion and elegance about the social issues that are the backbone of his candidacy." Brownback also picked up some quick hits in an Associated Press story where he raised his hand to show he doesn't believe in evolution and when he said the day the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade would be a "glorious day of human liberty and freedom." McClatchy's Washington Bureau quoted Brownback when he said he could support a more liberal GOP candidate. "Somebody who is with you 80 percent of the time is not your enemy," Brownback said, citing Ronald Reagan's philosophy.

Based on his comments to the Christian Science Monitor last week, he probably won't worry about the coverage too much. When the newspaper asked him about debates, he said: "I think it's important to get candidates side by side. I don't think you make the candidacy or lose it over a debate or two, [but] I think they're very helpful to have."

See coverage of the Democrat's debate last week.
See what Eagle readers had to say on WE Blog.

$10 million behind, Brownback leads the local money race

Sen. Sam Brownback trails Republican presidential hopefuls Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain by more than $10 million in campaign fundraising, according to recent finance reports. But the Kansas Republican easily leads all presidential candidates in the Sunflower State and the Wichita area. That's according to analysis by The New York Times that came out over the weekend. Perhaps not surprising, Brownback's home state gave the largest share of the $1.3 million he has raised in contributions of $200 or more. In all, more than $123,000 -- or 9 percent -- of his money came from Kansas --$44,182 from western and central areas, including Wichita (Zip codes 67000 to 67999) and $79,307 came from the northeast part of the state. (See Federal Election Commission reports here.)

Top donors in Wichita include Adam Beren, who frequently funds campaigns, Larry Flemming of the LDF Companies, James S. Kastens, and Gerald and Priscilla O'Shaughnessy. All gave $2,100 or more. The second best Kansas showing was from Giuliani, who took in $32,100 statewide.

Despite recent momentum from Democrats in this mostly red state and their dominance on the national fundraising scene, Brownback out-raised all the top Democratic candidates combined. Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards led the way in Kansas with $23,155; Sen. Barack Obama drew $15,716, including two $250 donations from Urban League of Kansas President Brian Black, and Sen. Hillary Clinton collected $14,720.

Brownback: Iraq withdrawal timeline "like March Madness for terrorists"

Sen. Sam Brownback, who opposed President Bush's troop surge in Iraq, says "now is hardly the time to set a date for retreat."

That comes just a day after he was campaigning in Iowa and told The Des Moines Register that his opposition to the surge is a problem for some conservative voters.

Brownback's answer is to split Iraq three ways and lead the country into federalism. "If the surge works, federalism can provide the framework necessary to stabilize Iraq over the long term," he said in a press release. "If the surge fails, and Iraq’s sectarian violence deepens, a federal Iraq will be the only choice available to separate the warring factions while keeping Iraq from breaking apart – something that we cannot allow to occur in such a vital region."
See his full statement:

"U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today released a statement regarding the upcoming Senate vote on whether Congress should impose a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq:

"We have arrived at a key moment for U.S. policy in Iraq. History recalls Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990 and 1991. It recalls the no-fly zones we maintained in the 1990s. It recalls the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. It recalls our sanctions against Saddam Hussein. And when history records Operation Iraqi Freedom, it will remember whether Congress provided the direction necessary to complete the mission or chose to cut it off prematurely. History will judge today s vote.

"The American people await this vote. The Iraqi people await this vote. Al Qaeda awaits this vote. A timetable for withdrawal is like March Madness for terrorists. The terrorists envision a timetable for withdrawal advancing through the House and through the Senate. They even have a timetable for withdrawal beating a presidential veto and becoming law. We need to break that bracket this afternoon.

"The surge is now underway. I did not support the surge, but I hope it works. The first reports have been encouraging, but the fog of war remains thick. Over the next few months, we will be able to assess whether the surge is working or not. Now is hardly the time to set a date for retreat.

"I am not saying we should have an open ended commitment, but I am saying that our mission over there - and not politics over here - should drive our policy. I know many of my colleagues believe we have nothing to gain by staying. But I believe there is a way forward.

"Everyone agrees that a political solution is crucial to success. And it turns out that the political solution Iraqis ought to pursue is the most American of all: Federalism.

"Thankfully, in the early days in America, we did not have the kind of factional violence and terrorism we've seen in Iraq. But it certainly included rivalries between the colonies and different visions of the future.

"The great solution chosen by the founding fathers was federalism - something embodied by the Senate itself. An Iraq with several federal regions, with Baghdad as a federal capital represents the best chance for Iraq to achieve stability.

"If the surge works, federalism can provide the framework necessary to stabilize Iraq over the long term. If the surge fails, and Iraq s sectarian violence deepens, a federal Iraq will be the only choice available to separate the warring factions while keeping Iraq from breaking apart something that we cannot allow to occur in such a vital region.

"I believe that instead of giving the terrorists a reason to be hopeful and sending mixed signals to our forces in the field, we should be talking about the possibility of a federal Iraq. The Iraqi Constitution calls for it. The Iraqi Parliament passed a law supporting it. The Kurdish region proves that it can be successful. Yes, a federal Iraq may require the presence of U.S. forces for some period of time. But as we have seen in Bosnia, our deployments in support of a political solution endorsed by all sides can bring lasting peace and a chance for a brighter future.

"For this reason, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the Cochran amendment. We need to stop talking about how to retreat and start talking about winning in Iraq. A conversation about a federal Iraq is the best way for the Senate to contribute to success in Iraq."

Brownback's lean campaign

The New York Times reports this morning that as Sen. Sam Brownback tours Iowa in the early phases of his presidential campaign that he "is struggling to make himself known to most voters, and to convince them that his views on the issues are more important than the name recognition enjoyed by his better-known rivals in the crowded field seeking the Republican nomination."

And the paper notes that Brownback, who is traveling only with two aides, faces a crowded field of more popular candidates who, like Sen. John McCain, roll into town with busloads of reporters and staff members.

Out of office due to run for office

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback has circled the globe (seen in this photo in Iraq) and made several trips to the key primary states as he goes into full presidential campaign mode. But, one place he hasn't spent much time is in the Senate, where the Associate Press is reporting he has missed more than half of his roll call votes this month.

"That's a higher absence rate than any other member of the Senate except Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage he suffered before the new session of Congress began," the AP wrote. "... Before this year, Brownback had a 98 percent voting record."

Brownback spokesman Brian Hart said Brownback "will continue to serve the people of Kansas to the best of his ability."

A House Divided

As Kansas Senator Sam Brownback runs for President, we can't help but note the Senator's conversion to Catholicism from his Methodist farm roots. His wife, Mary Stauffer Brownback, and their children remain members of the Topeka Bible Church. Brownback was brought into the Catholic Church by an Opus Dei priest. Interfaith families are often posed with many challenges. Given his high profile, The Hall Monitor wonders if this may be an issue that could create further challenges.

The Stauffer family helped create the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, and the family has owned major newspapers in Kansas, including the Topeka Daily Capitol.