Campaign Begins at Home

By Tim Carpenter

By Tim Carpenter

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback takes a deeper plunge today into national politics by declaring his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination at a celebration in Topeka.

The Kansas Republican remains a long shot to win the White House in November 2008, but questions about his ability to overcome weak name recognition and to raise millions of dollars for a campaign won’t be at center stage during the official announcement at the Kansas Expocentre’s Heritage Hall.

Brownback, who describes himself as a “full-scale” social and fiscal conservative, said Friday in an interview with The Topeka Capital-Journal that he was the right person with the right message at the right time to lead a nation dazed by corruption, war, poverty, family disintegration and, for some, hopelessness.

“I think so or I wouldn’t get into the race,” said Brownback, who said he never dreamed of one day being elected president. “I dreamed about being a farmer.”

Brownback said his announcement speech to invited family and friends would focus on the value of freedom, building stronger families, and expanding personal opportunities with tax policy and business growth.

The man from Parker, a tiny community in Linn County in eastern Kansas, is making it official one year before the Iowa caucuses that serve as an early-warning siren for presidential hopefuls. A respectable showing by Brownback in that farm state could help silence those who doubt his capacity to compete against candidates with deeper pockets who are already on a first-name basis with the nation’s voters.

“They’ve been, I think, very good about picking people that fit the needs of the nation at the moment,” Brownback said of voters. “I’ve been up for elective office since ’94, and I trust the system. I think it works for the needs of the country at the moment.”

At the state’s political epicenter in Topeka, the unveiling of Brownback’s candidacy brings to the surface fervent supporters and dismissive skeptics. There is bipartisan enthusiasm in the Legislature, however, that a Kansan is following in the footsteps of Republicans Alf Landon, Dwight Eisenhower and Bob Dole.

“We’re excited about having a native son running for president,” said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler. “He stands for a lot of things that most Americans agree with. It’s an exciting prospect.”

On the other hand, Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said Brownback’s chance of success was “pretty slim.”

“If the trend of the last election holds, American people are really looking for more moderation at the federal level,” Davis said. “Brownback has been going to the right end of the political spectrum as quickly as he can.”

Brownback said in the interview that he had spoken with Dole, who was the GOP’s nominee for president in 1996, about his plans to seek the nomination. Brownback also said he would “absolutely” consider selecting a woman as a running mate.

Brownback said his announcement speech would include observations on issues that unite Americans but were infrequently discussed. That is expected of a politician who has made a habit of joining forces with Senate Democrats – Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for example – on federal legislation outside the comfort zone of many Republican colleagues in Washington.

Brownback has aligned himself with liberals to help people suffering in Sudan and victims of the sex industry. The senator has dabbled in women’s rights in Afghanistan and Korea. He has quoted U2 frontman Bono on the obstacles endured by the poor. Brownback is an advocate for an African-American history museum in Washington. He has worked with Democrats to focus on the importance of AIDS testing.

“There are a lot of topics that don’t divide us,” Brownback said. “They tend to have less political value, and I suppose that’s why people focus less on them.”

Brownback, who had a bout with skin cancer in 1995, said he was committed to working with Democrats and Republicans to open the door to new cancer treatments. He said a bipartisan effort is needed to speed the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for experimental medicines, as was done to improve science’s response to AIDS.

“We’ve got a real opportunity to end deaths by cancer,” he said. “It will take a huge effort. There will be nobody against it.”

Brownback hasn’t been shy about taking on unpopular positions. He joined with President Bush in advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, which dismayed some of Brownback’s friends in the Republican Party.

Brownback believes research on embryonic stem cells is immoral.

He said the war in Iraq would play a considerable role in determining who follows Bush in the White House. The objective in Washington should be to negotiate a strategy that both Democrats and Republicans can support, he said.

“We really need to sit down with the Democrats and say, ‘What would you support?’ ” he said. “You cannot conduct a war with one party for it and one party against it.”

That political road map should be developed, he said, in conjunction with diplomatic efforts to bring stability to Iraq.

In a move that surprised some of his supporters, Brownback recently expressed opposition to Bush’s decision to send more U.S. combat troops into Iraq. At the same time, he said, the United States shouldn’t be bullied by a discouraged public into a premature withdrawal from that war-torn nation.

“We will win if we don’t lose the will to win,” the senator said.

Brownback said he wasn’t daunted by the challenge of countering the name recognition and fundraising capacity of Republicans Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“I’d ask people where was Jimmy Carter’s name recognition and fundraising at this stage in the process,” Brownback said. “Bill Clinton was from a small southern state. Howard Dean, in the last cycle, was from a small northeastern state. People can point to the money, but what really happens is the person, message and moment line up – it happens. It catapults and people start contributing more. I’ve seen it time after time.”

He said he owed a debt of gratitude to Kansas for making him the man he has become.

“They’ve shaped me and made me,” he said. “They host my family and me, and I’m deeply appreciative of that. You are shaped by those environments and those people, and I’m very appreciative.”

After the speech in Topeka, Brownback said he would immediately fly to a fundraising event in North Carolina. He will appear on a national talk show the next day. On Monday, he will attend a huge Right to Life rally on Capitol Hill. His political journey will continue to take him between Kansas to Washington, but there will be more frequent side trips to Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire and other states with early opportunities to evaluate candidates.

“It is a long, tough road,” he said.

Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 296-3005 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.

(c) 2007 Topeka Capital Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.