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CajunRick
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Posted: Tue Dec 5th, 2006 05:30 pm |
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WASHINGTON DC, December 5 (CNA) - As Republicans and Democrats are still considering what to make of the “Catholic vote” during 2006’s midterm elections, preparations are already gearing up for the 2008 presidential race. And as talk swirls about possible presidential runs by such well known politicians as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain, a Catholic politician appears ready to throw his hat in the ring.
Senator Sam Brownback, a pro-life Republican Senator from the State of Kansas announced yesterday that, “after much prayerful consideration,” he will consider seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency.
Brownback, who has made a name for himself in conservative circles since he was elected a U.S. Senator in 1996, has been a fervent supporter of “family values” and creating a “culture of life” in the United States.
In the letter announcing his candidacy consideration, Brownback said he is running in order to “spread hope and ideas.”
The senator also noted a few of his platform concepts. In addition to mentioning life issues and the protection of marriage, Brownback notes some problems he would address as president. “The federal government wastes and spends too much. We lack compassionate yet practical programs to help the poor here and around the world. We need energy independence and alternative, clean-burning, domestic-grown fuels. The scourge of cancer has killed too many and must be stopped. We need term limits for judges and members of Congress like we have for the President. We need a flat tax instead of the dreadful, incomprehensible tax code we now have,” Brownback says, adding, “and we need humility.”
The Senator’s approach to “compassionate conservatism” may be what many Catholic voters are looking for. While many more Catholics had been voting for Republican candidates in recent years - due to their strong pro-life agenda - a shift of some Catholic voters back to Democratic candidates was seen in this year’s midterm elections.
Many, including Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, think that Catholic voters left their Republican candidates as those candidates became weak on abortion and family matters. “The most vulnerable seats in both houses were those held by politicians who had abandoned the pro-life and the pro-marriage principles that first brought them to power,” said Fr. Euteneuer shortly after the election.
Now, political pundits are projecting Sen. Brownback as the strongest conservative Republican candidate in the race.
Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for the Family Research Council, told Washington D.C.’s “The Hill” that the other leading candidates are lacking in several social areas.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been historically “pro-gay rights and pro-abortion,” McClusky said, and Arizona Senator John McCain has been only “moderately pro-life” and supported issues adamantly opposed by social conservatives, such as embryonic stem-cell research and fetal- tissue research.
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who declared his support for abortion rights during an unsuccessful 1994 Senate race, has a “spotty record on life,” said McCluskey, who said Romney is now “certainly coming around on the issue, which we hope he will, and he has good people working for him.”
According to “the Hill,” McClusky said Brownback might be able to fill a conservative leadership void among top-tier candidates. But even if he does not win the nomination, Brownback could have a major impact on the Republican primary by defining the debate on abortion and other related “life” issues, he added.
Though he doesn’t address it in his letter Brownback has also weighed-in on another contentious issue, the Iraq war. According to his website, the senator says that while he is “anxious” for U.S. troops to come home safely, he recognizes that, “even with the end of major combat operations, Iraq still faces an uncertain future.”
The United States, he continues, “must do all we can to help Iraq build the foundations of its new democracy. At the same time, we must understand that the key to Iraq’s future lies with individual Iraqi citizens.”
“I am very proud of the work our troops have performed since the end of major combat, but I am equally anxious for them to return home safely,” Brownback concludes.
The above article is reposted with permission of the Catholic News Agency.
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JillD
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Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 02:20 am |
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| Is Senator Brownback a convert to Catholicism? I seem to have that memory floating in the back of my mind.... I wonder if his story is available somewhere?
____________________
"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 02:29 am |
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JillD wrote: Is Senator Brownback a convert to Catholicism? I seem to have that memory floating in the back of my mind.... I wonder if his story is available somewhere?
According to Rolling Stone Magazine, he is a convert to Catholicism from Evangelical Christianity.
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inept_apologist
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Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 11:35 am |
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| Thanks for posting this! I'm glad to hear Brownback is seeking nomination!
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http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thecatholicapologist
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susiedear
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Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 11:44 am |
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 Sen. Brownback sounds like a person to get behind. Thanks for posting this news release.
Elizabeth
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But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. St. Augustine
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Darlene
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Posted: Wed Dec 13th, 2006 04:17 am |
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Thanks Rick for posting this information. Funny you say that Brownback is a convert to Catholicism from Evangelical Christianity. There is something that stands out about converted Catholics from Protestantism. Perhaps it really is true that you can take the Catholic convert out of Evangelicalism but not the Evangelicalism out of the Catholic Convert.
And that is what makes this message board so wonderful. We have so many zealous Catholics that were once Protestant. They bring with them the zeal for evangelism, the love of God's Word, excitement about the sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist and they spread this enthusiasm to the cradle Catholics.
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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Steven Barrett
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Posted: Sat Feb 17th, 2007 04:20 pm |
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Sen. Brownback seems to be a very attractive candidate for prolife Catholics and prolife Protestants. But don't get your hopes up. While I hate to be the messenger of bad news, at least somebody ought to recall the trap left behind by the only Catholic elected president: Kennedy.
Remember the pledge he made to the Southern Baptists. While I don't want to try and quote from memory when I don't have the quote immediately at hand, it was basically a sell-out by Kennedy. He basically said he wouldn't allow his faith to be a determining factor when making decisions.
Kennedy set the precedent whereby no Catholic can get elected without promising to not allow his or her Catholic Faith to have any influence. It's the kiss of death for Catholics. They stand to lose either way. Let's not forget there are many people in this country who haven't ditched the old suspicions of a Catholic becoming the Holy See's puppet.
Brownback may get a major chunk of conservative Catholic voters, but he's going to pay a price from evangelical Protestants who, while agreeing with him on political issues, may have a hard time with his conversion to Catholicism, a faith that many evangelicals do not believe is sufficiently "Christian."
Hope I'm wrong, but until we can somehow get around the Kennedy trap, it's be a real hard slog for Catholic candidates.
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James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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JillD
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Posted: Sat Feb 17th, 2007 09:15 pm |
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Sen. Brownback may be unelectable, but I hope he will run a campaign with a clear message of pro-life and pro-family values. Sometimes just being a candidate is a good way to have access to the media in order to make one's case with the entire country.
Jill
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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Darlene
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Posted: Sun Feb 18th, 2007 06:19 pm |
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| From what I have seen of Brownback, I think he is far more of a committed Catholic than Kennedy was. Kennedy was not a very good witness to the Catholic faith, just as many think that George Bush is not a good witness to Evangelical Christianity.
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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Steven Barrett
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Posted: Mon Feb 19th, 2007 03:55 am |
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Darlene,
No kidding about "St. John" Kennedy. (Small wonder that the Catholic bishops DID NOT want Kennedy elected because they feared all his dalliances would wind up in the papers.)
I agree with you about Sen. Brownback. Unfortunately, as a student of politics (my wife would call me a political junkie), my optimistic cells have taken a beating thanks to our wonderful media and the system which caters to its prejudices against Chrsitians and (real) Catholics in particular.
Bush's domestic policies (save for his work on the Partial Birth Abortion Ban) have been atrocious by the standards of Catholic Social Teachings. I can only wonder what Jesus would say about Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and Bush's pro-death penalty views.
Of course, liberal "blame Amerika first" foreign policy wonks working within the Bishops Conference Center in D.C. are aghast at his willingness to stand up for higher principles abroad. (That's where I do like him.)
One thing for sure, Bush is far more of a "catholic president" than Kerry could've ever been in a million years. Overall, not bad for a Southern Methodist from a social conservative/fiscal liberal Catholic's viewpoint.
One of my favorite photos of all time is the one of all those protestant presidents and secretary of state kneeling at the altar rail before John Paul II's body lying in state. I thought the ground would shake in the ancient cemetery next door (1650) with all those old Yankees spinning and shaking at the mere sight of it all. But, I'm sure the few Poles buried there were resting in peace.
____________________
James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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