It was all about the money this week on the campaign trail with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
On July 19, Brownback published an editorial on the political Web site RealClearPolitics touting an optional flat-tax, an idea he would push as president.
“People often laugh when I say on the campaign trail that the tax code should be taken behind the barn and killed with a dull axe. In fact, one man in Iowa was so excited by this proposal that he presented me with an axe before I finished my remarks (fittingly, I was speaking in a barn),” Brownback wrote.
Although able to add an axe to his campaign, the Wichita Eagle took a look at why Brownback has struggled to bring in actual cash. “I think Brownback’s reasons for running are good,” Rich Galen, a Republican strategist, told the newspaper. “He wants to make sure the conservative and Christian position is front and center and part of the debate. I certainly hope he hasn’t mortgaged the house.”
One state where Brownback is leading the fund-raising race is West Virginia — but no one is really sure why or how. According to the Charleston Gazette, “Brownback raised more money in West Virginia than any other GOP candidate from April 1 to June 30, despite not having set foot in the state.”
“I don’t know why Brownback would be raising money here,” Doug McKinney, state GOP chairman, told the Gazette. “I have not heard Brownback’s name mentioned.”
In addition to a West Virginia success, Brownback has also garnered increasing support among Catholics. On July 19, Brownback announced the creation of the “Iowa Catholics for Brownback Leadership Team.” The team, which has 144 members, will help round up support and voters for the Ames Straw Poll on Aug.11.
Brownback told the Des Moines Register that “the campaign singled out Catholics hoping to tap so-called values voters who are generally religious, opposed to abortion and against nontraditional forms of marriage.”
Brownback also addressed these and other issues in a Q&A session with the Web site WorldNetDaily. “I think I want to be the president that appoints the justice that’s the needed vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade,” Brownback said.
In addition to the Q&A with Brownback, WorldNetDaily also publishes columns by actor and martial artist Chuck Norris. Yes, this Chuck Norris:
Norris’ most recent column, from July 16, is titled “Atom bombs, suitcase nukes and America’s future.”
It wouldn’t be a week for Team Brownback without a swipe at fellow Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. A press release, sent out in response to a Romney campaign commercial, attacks Romney for serving on the board of Marriott, “which generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue through in-room pornography services at its hotels.”
Lastly and — for the good people headed to the Ames straw poll next month — most importantly, it was announced that catering for the Brownback tent at the event will be by Famous Dave’s BBQ and Brownback threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the July 19 Iowa Cubs minor league baseball game. The Cubs won 9-3, over the Round Rock Express.
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