Lost in the flurry of recent presidential campaign announcements is one of the more intriguing developments of the modern political era. That is, while most candidates seek the White House with real aspirations to govern the nation, a self-chosen few such as Al Sharpton or Gary Bauer aim only to lead a movement or community. With his announcement on January 20, Republican Kansas Senator Sam Brownback uniquely hopes to do both.
With GOP front-runners John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney generally held in low esteem by the religious right, Brownback hopes to convert his pro-life, culture warrior bona fides into primary wins in 2008. As a New Republic profile by The New Republic's Noah Schreiber describes, Brownback is a ferociously ambitious politician who has been eyeing the White House since being swept into Congress as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Despite his current low standing in the polls, Brownback believes he can sweep conservative Southern primary states and the mighty evangelical voting bloc that now dominates the GOP nominating process.
That remains to be seen. But what seems increasingly likely is Brownback's assumption of the leadership mantle for what I've termed the "American Taliban." He stands poised to succeed where Pat Robertson, Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer failed before him and lead that network of politicians, religious leaders, "faith-based" organizations and (literally) their amen corner who are working overtime to make a particularly onerous concept of Christianity the de facto law of the land. Armed with the Bible in one hand and the Patriot Act in the other, would-be Bush successor Brownback and his GOP jihadists threaten to fundamentally change the role of government in monitoring Americans' lives, liberties and even bodies. Americans would need not travel to Kandahar to learn about the perils of theocratic rule.
The Kansas Senator and may fail in bringing his retrograde worldview to the White House, but he is being welcomed by the leadership of the religious right. A one-time evangelical turned born-again Catholic, the former Gingrich firebrand wants to bring his personal crusade against abortion, stem cell research and gay-marriage to the entire United States. A warrior for the supposed "culture of life," in 2006 Brownback displayed a child's drawing of embryos on the Senate floor during the stem cell debate, relating the 7-year old girl's plea, "are you going to kill me?" Announcing his candidacy, Brownback declared that "every human life is a beautiful, sacred, unique child of a loving God" and that "the family and the culture are under withering attack."
It's hardly surprising that, as TNR reports, Brownback offers up a 21st century version of the elite blue state bogeyman sneering at his slack-jawed brethren in America's heartland. It's also no wonder his American Taliban fellow traveler Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said of the Kansan, "Senator Brownback is unrivaled as an advocate for the family and for life in Washington."
For more background, see "The American Taliban."
For profiles of Brownback's potential allies in the pulpits, see Church Report's "50 Most Influential Christians in America."