Brownback
Sam Brownback
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesHARRISBURG, Pa. -- After kicking off her Pennsylvania campaign with a positive speech to an energetic crowd in the northeastern part of the state yesterday, Hillary
Clinton brought the fight against
Obama here to the capital on Tuesday, hitting her rival on energy policy, NAFTA and Iraq and reprising her campaign's latest attack theme that paints him as a man of talk and not action.
Moments before the event was scheduled to begin in a packed auditorium here, the theme to "Rocky" blasted through the speakers, that classic movie about a fighter that was set in the Keystone State. The New York senator portrays herself as a leader who is ready to fight to get things done.
Today, she began by linking the wisdom of the nation's founders to her campaign.
"Right out of Pennsylvania came so much of the genius that created our government," she said, "and it was a unique combination of the lofty goals and values that kept us looking toward a better tomorrow and an understanding of what it would take. I think we're at a turning point moment in American history right now where we are called upon to look toward the future with confidence and optimism, but to understand what it will take, the hard work to translate all of those hopes and dreams into the reality of people's lives right here in Harrisburg. That is what my campaign is about."
And she continued the hope versus hard work theme she's been highlighting for months now, as she spoke about making a better future for America's children.
"We can't just hope that it happens," she said. "We can't just wish it happens. We can't just gaze heavenward and cross our fingers that it happens. We have to be prepared to work for that future. That's going to require, first and foremost, a new president in the White House."
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From NBC’s Chuck Todd
In an interview with NBC, Patrick Davis, the executive director of Common Sense Issues outlined exactly what the group's about and up to.
It's a 501(c)4, qualified non-profit that is targeting quite a few races, including the Colorado Senate race where the group has already run a couple of paid ads against likely Democratic nominee Mark Udall. As for "TrustHuckabee," it is an indie expenditure in nature, something that's been reported to the FEC and they've filed with the IRS. They've endorsed Huckabee in Iowa and are "endeavoring to build an organization of like-minded Huckabee supporters; they are not coordinating at all."
As a 501(c)4, the group can raise unlimited sums of money from INDIVIDUALS but not from groups. That money has to be reported to the FEC within 48 hours of the money being spent.
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From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
DES MOINES, IA -- For
McCain's sake,
Sam Brownback wishes he was Babs.
"I wish that he had glitzier people up here to represent him," the former candidate told an audience of Iowa county officials as he stumped for McCain here this morning. "I'm not Barbra Streisand. I'm not Oprah."
"I wish I were," he added.
The often straight-laced conservative senator cocked his head and reconsidered the remark as the crowd chuckled. "Okay," he conceded with a smile, "But I wish I could sing like that."
Brownback, who dropped out of the presidential race in October, is now stumping full force for Senate colleague McCain here in Iowa. The McCain campaign hopes to harvest support from former Brownback supporters, many of them Christian pro-life conservatives.
And no one can say that the man from Kansas doesn't have a sense of humor about it. "Many candidates enter and few leave Iowa," he told members of the Iowa State Association of Counties. "I should know. I'm one of them."
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From NBC's Lauren AppelbaumIn Topeka, KS this afternoon,
Brownback made it official. "Today I'm ending my candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president," he said while surrounded by his family and friends. "I do so with great love for my country, but with the recognition that my yellow brick road just came short of the White House this time."
He apologized to his constituents for his missed votes in the Senate and told them what a privilege it is to continue to represent them. The Kansas senator also said the experience of running for the nomination has its pluses. "I leave this stage a better man and hopefully America a better place," Brownback said, a bit choked up. "I'm amazed at such a wonderful nation, a powerful nation, that could allow the son of a Kansas farmer even to dream that he could live it and lead it."
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
WASHINGTON, DC -- After his Values Voters speech here, in which he called for all Americans to defend life at every stage,
Brownback refused to confirm the news that he is dropping out of the presidential race this afternoon. “I’m headed back to Kansas and I’ll be making an announcement there,” he said.
The Kansas senator did acknowledge, however, that he is convinced the Republican Party will nominate a “pro-life candidate,” and he feels that
Giuliani does not fit the bill. “Governor
Romney’s certainly taken a pro-life position now,” Brownback said to reporters after his speech. “We’ll see if that’s something that can persuade the American public. My criticism of [Romney] has been that you need someone that believes in the cause to persuade the American public, and if it’s seen as switching on a lot of topics it’s tough to persuade the American public. Mayor Giuliani has said he’s pro-choice.”
Brownback has been openly critical of Romney on the abortion issue, even going as far as to place automated phone calls to voters in Iowa criticizing the former Massachusetts governor for his inconsistent stance on the issue. Today, he confirmed that he does not believe the GOP will nominate Giuliani due to his pro-choice history, and that he feels that the party is divided because “we don’t have an heir apparent for the first time in a couple of decades.”
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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 MontanaroFor 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.
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
Brownback was the first candidate to address the Republican Jewish Coalition's Presidential Forum. He succeeded in capturing the audience's attention, offering up laugh lines throughout his speech. Brownback called for rebuilding family, reviving culture, and sustaining the economy by bringing about energy security and offering an optional alternative flat tax.
He indirectly addressed Iran. "When
Ahmadinejad talks about a world without Israel and the United States, I think we have to take him seriously," Brownback told about 400 people. "We have to use anything possible to stop nuclear weapons." When he was later asked a question about working with
Sarkozy, Brownback said he would work with him "on tough situations, particularly Iran, to pull together a global coalition."
His message of a strong family with both a mom and a dad resonated with the Jewish Republicans. He also made an indirect reference to Hillary Clinton. "We can still debate if it takes a family or a village," Brownback said, "but it takes a lot of responsible adults per child."
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From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
DES MOINES, IA -- Two unusual things happened in the world of politics today.
One is that two candidates from opposing parties held a joint press conference, an event that their campaigns called "unprecedented" in presidential history.
The other is that the same event - held by Oh-Eight long-shots Sen. Sam Brownback and Sen. Joe Biden - ran out of space for cameras on the media riser.
Biden and Brownback aren't quite "asterisks," as jaded political types sometimes refer to candidates polling at less than one percent, but they're hardly rock stars either. Brownback garnered 2% support among Iowan Republicans in the Des Moines Register poll; Biden, whose roots in the state go back to his campaign in the state in 1988, is polling at around 5%. So it's rare that either of the two candidates draw jostling crowds of reporters here in Iowa, let alone a cable news satellite truck parked near the entrance to one of their events.
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From NBC's Courtney KubeDebate newcomer
Fred Thompson had one line last night that left us scratching our heads... He said, "The Iraq Study Group reported that [Saddam Hussein] had designs on reviving his nuclear program which he had started once upon a time." While other individuals or groups may have stated that, it is not in the Iraq Study Group's final report.
And one point about
Brownback's assertion that partitioning Iraq is "going to happen." Well, not according to Iraqi political leaders. In fact, speaking in Washington just last week, Iraq's National Security Adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie adamantly denied that Iraq would be split into three areas. Partitions "are written in blood," he said, adding that Iraqis do not need to shed any more blood. Al-Rubaie said that the very notion of a partition is "very irritating."
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Brownback tells Bloomberg News: “ ‘I think there's a good chance” Craig will be censured, ‘but expulsion seems to me probably unlikely,’ said Brownback, 51, a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage. ‘It's a misdemeanor crime. If you look at that in the history of things, it's unlikely that would lead to’ expulsion.”
Brownback also said that Sen. David Vitter, caught up in the DC Madam scandal, should face similar action.
“I think you could see something like that taking place,” he said. “If you look at the actual crime itself and the discussion across the country -- and as a Republican -- this is bad.”
