Sen. Sam Brownback: Expect Decision on Presidential Bid in December 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 21, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Senator Sam Brownback says he expects to make a decision about whether he will enter the 2008 presidential race next month. Should he throw his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination Brownback would likely be the strongest pro-life candidate in the field, though he trails behind other potential candidates in most polls.
Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said on Monday that there is room for a strong conservative in the race because some other potential candidates haven’t been consistent on pro-life issues.
"I think there’s room for a full-scale Ronald Reagan conservative in the field," Brownback said.
The pro-life stalwart said he’s not worried that other candidates are better known.
"I fully agree that other people have much higher name identification than I do," he told the Associated Press in an interview. "No question about that. But I think what you have to look at is the policy positions they get out once you have an effective campaign."
"Where are my positions and others versus the base of the party?" he asked. "I think that is really the key thing to look at, particularly at this point in time where you haven’t even had a campaign and all of that polling is based on name ID."
In fact, should he decide to run for president, Brownback would fill a large void on the Republican side.
While leading potential candidates such as Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist or former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson oppose abortion, they are on record supporting embryonic stem cell research — something that will alienate them from pro-life advocates.
That leaves room for a candidate like Brownback, who has led the fight in the Senate on pro-life issues and been one of the more outspoken members against human cloning and embryonic stem cell research.
Brownback said he wasn’t discouraged from possible running for president because of the disappointing results in the Congressional elections.
"It does not make it less likely," he told AP. "I really believe that the basic conservative ideas and ideals were not repudiated. Our execution was."
