Brownback declares bid for Republican nomination
He could threaten conservative base of Mitt Romney
Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, one of Congress's leading social conservatives, launched a White House run yesterday that poses the most serious threat yet to Mitt Romney's bid for the conservative primary vote.
Brownback, asked about Romney's attempts to cast himself as the leading conservative candidate, said a void existed in the GOP field for a "solid, full-scale economic and social conservative."
"If you look at who the Republican Party is . . . and who constitutes the base of the party, I think my philosophy fits very well," Brownback said in a phone interview after kicking off his candidacy in Topeka. "There is an opening -- a big opening -- for a guy like me, and I hope I can fill it."
Brownback wouldn't directly address how his conservative message compared with Romney's, saying that will be for voters to decide. But his campaign kick off and comments yesterday represent an implicit challenge to the former Massachusetts governor as the battle for base voters heats up in key primary states such as Iowa, Michigan, and South Carolina.
Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden countered yesterday by saying Romney's record has won him many supporters.
"Governor Romney is receiving a tremendous level of support from conservatives because of his stellar record on fiscal issues, pro-family issues, and his strong positions on national security," Madden said in an e-mail.
Romney, who sells himself as an ideological heir to President Ronald Reagan, has tried to become the major conservative alternative to Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor , who top most polls but whose positions alienate them from many conservatives. Romney has also enjoyed a little luck: Several conservatives once considered strong presidential challengers, including George Allen, former Virginia senator, are no longer in contention for the nomination.
But over the past few months, Romney's moderate positions during previous political campaigns in Massachusetts -- including his past support for abortion rights, gun control, and gays serving openly in the military -- have prompted serious skepticism from conservative activists, bloggers, and commentators.
That has emboldened potential rivals such as Brownback and James Gilmore, a former Virginia governor, whose success would hinge on the support of religious and social conservatives. Brownback, who has tried to peel such supporters away from Romney, noted yesterday that he had long been a conservative.
"These are consistent positions I've taken over time," Brownback, 50, said in the interview.
Yet, as the New Republic magazine reported recently, Brownback initially cast himself as a moderate when he was first elected to the US House in 1994. Brownback even reportedly likened himself to Nancy Kassebaum, a moderate Republican who represented Kansas in the Senate for 20 years, the magazine reported.
But Brownback, a former evangelical Protestant who converted to Catholicism in 2002, has since become one of the most prominent conservative voices on Capitol Hill. He drew attention recently for threatening to block the nomination of a Michigan judge because she once attended a commitment ceremony for two lesbians.
Brownback used his announcement speech yesterday to advocate a flat income tax, an end to cancer deaths in 10 years, and a prominent role for God.
"And for goodness sakes, the last thing we need in America is to take God out of our public lives and institutions!" he said to thunderous applause.
Brownback is facing questions about whether he can raise the tens of millions of dollars required to mount a nationwide primary campaign.
At the end of September, he had about $601,000 in his federal campaign account. (Romney raised $6.5 million in a daylong blitz on Jan. 8.)
Brownback's goal, observers say, is to catapult himself into the top tier alongside Romney.
Romney's goal, they say, is to remain the only top-tier candidate palatable to conservatives.
"Then, if someone else is two degrees better on this or the other, that doesn't work," said prominent antitax activist Grover Norquist.
Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com. 