Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., began his week with some good news: He won Iowa’s Black Hawk County straw poll with 40 percent of the vote against 12 other candidates. The victory in Black Hawk County, the fourth-largest in Iowa, came two weeks after he finished second in Linn County.
Over the weekend, Brownback also spoke at the Call, a massive religious revival event that drew over 100,000 people in Nashville, Tenn.
Brownback said he would like to “acknowledge, as a U.S. senator, the wrongs committed as official U.S. policy towards” Native Americans, African Americans and aborted fetuses. While on stage, he asked a Native American, an African American and his daughter as a symbol for a baby for their forgiveness.
Fresh off that appearance, Brownback took part in a variety of television and radio shows. On MSNBC, he talked to David Gregory; about Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain’s faltering campaign and about Iraq. Brownback told Gregory that he is not prepared to require a timeline on troop withdrawal but believes the solution is a three-state governing system.
On the Exchange, an Iowa Public Radio news program, Brownback spoke to host Ben Kieffer and callers about the campaign, Iraq, evolution, same-sex marriage, a flat-tax system and health care. Brownback also took to the air waves as a guest on the Steve Deace radio show.
Later on Fox News, Brownback appeared on talk show Hannity & Colmes. He discussed intelligence reports that al-Qaida had returned to pre-9/11 strength, saying he’s troubled by it but is waiting for official reports; whether he would confront Iran preemptively — he said he would; and his yes and no votes on immigration).
Associated Press reporter Mike Glover wrote a piece about Brownback’s campaign, saying it is making inroads in Iowa, particularly with social conservatives disillusioned with the rest of the Republican field. “Brownback figures that if he campaigns effectively in Iowa, does well in next month’s straw poll in Ames and finishes better than expected in the caucuses, he could burst onto the scene and become a major player,” Glover wrote.
Romney’s campaign responded by saying, “If making up imaginary words is what the American people cared about, some campaigns wouldn’t be doing so poorly.”
Lastly, Brownback and another presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., have been sparring; Brownback’s wife Mary is inviting people to help her give a 25th wedding anniversary present to her husband; Team Brownback e-campaign director John Murphy said social networking Web sites are “probably the most positive thing to happen to democracy in the last 100 years”; and Brownback4President posted a video of Brownback riding a tractor at the Roland, Iowa, Barn Bash on June 24.
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