Brownback backing out of prez race

The darling of the "Family Values" wing of the Republican Party, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is dropping out of the presidential race next week. To me, he came off unconvincing in the presidential debates, and like former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, he was hoping for a strong showing in August's Iowa Straw Poll. Thompson dropped out a few days later.

The Brownback campaign raised only $800,000 in the third quarter of this year.

My guess is that Brownback was hoping to to catch lightening in a bottle in a way that Pat Robertson did in 1988 when he finished second in the Iowa Caucuses. The gave the TV evangelist some momentum for a little while, but Robertson's campaign fizzled out a few weeks later.

Brownback, a genuinely religious man who doesn't carry the nut baggage (some will disagree with me) that Robertson did in '88, is expected to run for governor of Kansas in 2010. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, is currently governor, but is not expected to run for a third term, but might run that year to replace Brownback, achieving the seemingly impossible--becoming a Democratic senator from Kansas. The last time the Sunflower State had a Democrat in the upper house was in 1939--and I bet the Great Depression had something to do with that.

Related posts:

My Kansas Kronikles: A 39 post series

Is America ready for "Brownback Girl?"

Tommy Thompson endorses Rudy

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