Brownback to drop out

Posted: Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:20 AM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC’s Chuck Todd
The AP is reporting and First Read has confirmed that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) will withdraw from the presidential race tomorrow in a speech in Topeka, Kan.

*** UPDATE *** From Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
For some context: Brownback officially announced his presidential bid on Jan. 20 -- the very day that Hillary Clinton announced her own bid via her Web site.

Brownback finished a disappointing third (behind Romney and Huckabee) in the Ames Straw Poll back in August. Giuliani, McCain, and Thompson didn't compete in that straw poll.

Brownback raised about $926,000 in the third fundraising quarter -- for a total of $4.2 million for the cycle, which placed him sixth among Republican candidates for president. He was left with about $95,000 cash on hand with no debt.

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Comments

Brownback- One less religious puritanical nutjob to worry about;however; I do feel bad for the state of Kansas. Darwinism can breath alittle sigh of relief for now.

juan,ft lauderdale,fl (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:34 AM)

LOL, why should he bother to drop out? No one notices he had dropped-in, poor guy

Tuck,Realityville, Kansas (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:36 AM)

200 more voters up for grabs.

Sam, Oklahoma City (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:44 AM)

My take is that this will surely help Huckabee and hurt Giuliani -- to the extent that it hurts and helps anyone. Meanwhile, the Religious Right is coalescing around Romney and the Bush clan is moving towards Giuliani. Read why:
http://www.campaigndiaries.com/2007/10/religious-right-still-around-romney-but.html

Daniel (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:44 AM)

Glad Brownback finally did this; he was the most boring guy on the stage, and as of about two months ago, his rationale for staying in the race had completely evaporated.

Shadow, Hamden, CT (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:50 AM)

He spread intolerance with a smile. Bye bye, Sam.

Betty, Baltimore, MD (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:11 AM)

Maybe he'll go back to being a Senator...and actually show up for work?!

Ron Bishop, Olathe, Kansas (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:15 AM)

brown who?

? (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:16 AM)

Good! no more greenbacks for Brownback!
He seems to have been Dropped on his head and never bounced BACK.

hate/bitterness with sprinkles...in a cone please (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:21 AM)

Another intolerant rightwing nutjob gone...woohoo

Rick, WS, NC (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:22 AM)

Hand writing was on the wall a few weeks ago when he spoke to a huge hall filled with only 5 members of his family.

TheDonald (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:23 AM)

Now Sen. Brownback can go back to Washington and explain his idea of Creationism to more nobodies who are listening.

Robert Catalano, Salem, OR (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:55 AM)

Like Jim Gilmore, Brownback was a candidate without a following. Even the holy rollers weren't backing him. He may be a man of conscience, but I vastly prefer that the president of the most powerful country in the world believe in evolution and choose science over faith. We already have an incumbent whose abstinence only programs are a joke and who refuses to buck social conservatives by supporting stem cell research. Hopefully the eventual winner won't wear his religion on his sleeve, but will allow it to remain a private concern, as the founders intended.

kim, crofton, md (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:57 AM)

Sam, read some Richard Dawkins, John Dewey, William James and Tom Paine. There is hope for everyone.

nuanced (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:12 PM)

His .5% is up for grabs!

Van

vanreuter, NY NY (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:13 PM)

Hey republicans, they're dropping like flies...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/18/hastert/index.html

Congressional sources: Hastert won't serve out his term

Twelve Republican representatives have announced they are not running for re-election next year, either because they are retiring or they are running for another office.

"In addition to Hastert, another big-name Republican leaving is Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio, who said when she announced her retirement in August "there is no perfect time, no good time to leave a job you really love."

Who'll desert the sinking ship next?

Van

vanreuter, NY NY (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:20 PM)

Thank GOD this man is no longer running. We didn't need even the slightest chance that this hate-monger would be elected. He spread the gospel of hate, claiming it to be based on Christian teachings, much like Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, et. al. Praise the Lord that Brownback and his hate filled messages have been rejected by the American people.

J. Thompson Liberty, MO (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:36 PM)

Brownback was the only moral canadate with sensible opinions and beilifs, it's a shame that he's out of it.

romeyn, keene, nh (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:54 PM)

Neither Brownback nor this blog matter much.

Howard, Chicago (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:58 PM)

Who will be the next to go? Huckabee or Darwin?
I put my money on McCain because he is a Baptist-Episcopalian hybrid.

BubbaDownsouth (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:06 PM)

I didn't attend the funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:21 PM)

Every time I heard Sam Brownback speak, I started to doubt Darwin's theory of evolution. Danny, Oak Hill, WV

Danny Wright (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:22 PM)

Every time I heard Sam Brownback speak, I started to doubt Darwin's theory of evolution. Apparently, he hadn't moved far from his sea origins. Danny, Oak Hill, WV

Danny Wright (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:24 PM)

Who will he throw his support to?

nuanced (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:33 PM)

Life goes on, america still lives, babies still go poop. This is a story that continues to give and give and give, Rumblekins are losing support and power everyday, people are leaving the party in droves, supporters grumble to their democratic friends, lower end rumblekin governors vie for VP and George still believes he is relevant. Our prayers have been answered, god has heard us, the boy king is dead, long live democracy!

John S. Alexander,Edinboro, PA (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:45 PM)

To: romeyn, keene, nh

It concerns me when anyone, myself included, states or implies that this person or that person is the only "moral" candidate. These are politicians for God's sake. Combining politician and morals is an oxymoron!

In a pluralistic society, you can't alway get what you want. Live with it!

Gary, Franklin, WI (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:54 PM)

At a time when dispensing birth control pills to middle schoolers is dominating the news, perhaps some of Sam's values wouldn't have hurt this country.

DC, Topeka, KS (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:54 PM)

DC in Topeka:

At a time when tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians and thousands of brave US trooops have been killed because of the war that George Bush lied us into, some of Barack Obama's values wouldn't hurt this country.

Jim, Atlanta (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:17 PM)

DC, thanks for pointing this out:

"At a time when dispensing birth control pills to middle schoolers is dominating the news, perhaps some of Sam's values wouldn't have hurt this country."

Absolutely! What we need now are more children born to 13 and 14 year old mothers! Having younger and younger mothers means we can produce new soldiers faster to replace the ones currently dying in our wars. DC, you have real family values!

J.D. in California (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:23 PM)

Brownback isn't a bad guy. Met him during a work conference and seemed really friendly. Not that I necessarily agree with him on everything, but a decent guy.

J, Topeka KS (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:30 PM)

Hey, DC in Topeka:
Most Republicans do not even want sex education taught in high school.
You know what you get when that happens:
You get Congressman Mark Foley hitting on male congressional pages, Sen. David Vitter hitting on prostitutes, Rev. Ted Haggard hitting on gay men selling meth, Republican philanderer and hypocrite Newt Gingrich was cheating on his wife while denouncing President Bill Clinton's extramarital affair, I could go on and on about the GOP "values party". Just more of that "do as I say, not as I do" crap.

BubbaDownSouth (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:34 PM)

As a Kansas resident with moderate political views, Sam Brownback is an embarrassment to our state. He was "shuffled" into the Senate seat when Bob Dole was running for President. He needs to be shuffled out.

Happy that he is off the national stage. My plea to the rest of the country is not to judge Kansans by this guy. He is stiff, ultra right wing, and a water carrier for the Bush administration. The less seen and heard from this bonehead, the better.

Jim McIntire, Paola, KS (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:38 PM)

Couldn't agree more with Jim McIntire. He does not speak for the majority of Kansas. He has been a no vote on anything controversial the past 9 months. Even registered a not voting vote on the SCHIPP bill in hte Senate. Even Pat Roberts (R) voted in favor of the bill and 75% of Kansas wanted to see the bill passed.

E. Matthews, Hutchinson, KS (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:47 PM)

It's amazing to see, that the people who disagrees with brownback. Use the most disrespectful language and critisism and hateful words, and then they have the balls to say he is a the hate-monger. I am reminded of a scripture, that says pull the log out of your own eye, before pointing out the splinter in someone elses. I don't know if that is exact, but I think it sums up my meaning.

Majorwicky, St.Cloud, MN. (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:48 PM)

Bubbadownsouth, it so unfortunate the way you talk about people. You appear to represent so many who have lost the basic principles of respect. Senator Brownback, by most reports, is a kind, loving husband and father. Disagree with his positions, but leave his personal side out of the political debate. You are also dead wrong on McCain dropping out next. He will be in it for the long haul, and end up as President. Then we can get some true American Integrity back in the White House.

Scott, Charles City, IA (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:49 PM)

Scott, Charles City, IA

It doesn;t matter about Brownback anymore. He is out of the race.
As to the McCain campaign, Go vote for him in the General Election. Sounds like a sympathy vote, but go ahead and vote for him.
I may have lost the principle of respect for just politicians, but that is just tit for tat. Rattle of a few pols that really care about Scott.

BubbaDownSouth (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:17 PM)

Brownback was unfit to ever be President. During his campaign, he never talked about his UNCONSTITUTIONAL legislation 'International Marriage Broker Regulation Act'. This horrifying law is better described as 'International Romance Regulation Act'. He partnered with radical Bahai feminist organization Tahirih Justice Center in sponsoring the atrocious bill. This wacko group group, named after an Iranian martyr, are responsible for one of the most DRACONIAN laws in American history. Brownback told his colleagues in the Senate that they are "front-line experts". This atrocious law is a SCANDAL based on fraud, lies, deception, cooked statistics, propaganda, sensationalism, and 'manufactured' hysteria to support ulterior motives: to keep American men away from foreign women, and the bizarre Bahai religious view of equality. Now it is a FELONY for law-abiding American citizens to communicate, write friendship letters, or even to say 'Hello' to foreigners. How absurd! Brownback is a gullible man who took an oath to defend our Constitution, but he failed miserably.

Freedom, USA (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:30 PM)

Scott, giving respect to politicians will have to wait until we can find one who has earned it. I wouldn't advise holding your breath.

Looking for values in the Republican party is somewhat akin to looking for an amateur athlete in the NFL.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:32 PM)

So what?

Class Warrior, D.C. (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:34 PM)

Scott,
By the way, if you want, check out boycottliberalism.com. They are no better than the Republicans.

BubbaDownSouth (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:35 PM)

I agree with Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Politicians need to earn our respect.

BubbaDownsouth (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:54 PM)

Please do not laugh people, this means we will have him back in Kansas. I hear the moron wants to run for Governor of Kansas in 2010. Just what we need another Republican religious maniac.

Randy Reynolds, Kansas City, Kansas (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 5:33 PM)

I would have welcomed McCain as president until he turned into a born-again Bush handpuppet. Now Id vote for Steve Colbert before Id consider the "new" McCain.

As far as Brownback, he never had a chance and should have dropped out a long time ago.

Cal, Chico, CA (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 5:45 PM)

I’m sorry to hear about Sam Brownback dropping out of the race. It definitely reduces the chance of us getting a President who is an honest, God-fearing man determined to fight for the unborn.

However, all hope is not lost. There is still Hope for America . That hope can become a reality if you join me in the Ron Paul Revolution! Dr. Paul is an OB/GYN who has delivered over 4,000 babies and also sponsored the Sanctity of Life bill which would outlaw abortions immediately.

Dr. Paul is a devout Christian, a fact that is often overlooked. In his words: “I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator.”

He is also known as the “Champion of the Constitution” because he never votes for any bill that is unconstitutional, and that includes any kind of gun control. Best of all, he also wants to abolish the IRS, which has proven to be an enemy of the church.

I strongly urge you to join the ranks of thousands who are fed up with party politics and want a man of integrity in the White House. Please join me in supporting Ron Paul for President.

Brian Frank Gaffney SC (Sent Friday, October 19, 2007 1:49 AM)

Sam Brownback another person who is part of the post 9-11 partisan attack machine. One less person who won't be able to spread their vile poison on the American People.

Jeremy Montoya (Sent Friday, October 19, 2007 6:08 PM)

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