Brownback champions McCain, faith

Media Credit: NICK TROIANO / THE EAGLE FAITH AND POLITICS - AU College Republicans kicked off their first meeting of the semester with a speech by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. The former presidential candidate took questions from students.

The Republican Party needs to focus on faith, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said during an AU College Republicans event Wednesday evening.

"We need more of a faith-based aspect in our movement," he said. "We should find a way to pull more religious folks into it."

Brownback took off his coat and engaged in "intimate and friendly" conversation about his faith, the election and the conservative movement with AU students.

Brownback spoke for 10 minutes about the upcoming 2008 presidential election before opening the rest of the hour to questions from students.

Madeline Tomchick, a junior in the Kogod School of Business, said Brownback's position on abortion aligned with her personal stance on the issue.

"Like him, I believe in the value of life," Tomchick said. "I think that needs to be expressed more in this country."

Brownback, a former contender for the Republican presidential nomination in this year's election, said he now supports Arizona Sen. John McCain, citing military experience as his primary reason for supporting the candidate.

"McCain would be the most foreign policy savvy candidate, without a doubt," he said. "Having real foreign-policy credentials is going to be important in this election."

When asked about his decision to drop out of the presidential race, Brownback said he and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee shared too much of the same platform and credited Huckabee's success to his uncanny ability to capture messages in succinct sound bites.

"Huckabee and I were fishing in the same pond," Brownback said. "He had some great one-line quips that used to make headlines and grab the attention of the nation."

Sam Soyer, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said that seeing Brownback in person really changed his perception about Brownback's personality and political ideology.

"He's more of a complete candidate than he is often portrayed in the media," Soyer said. "He's not as partisan as the media says - he's more diverse, and he's just a really moderate and accepting politician."

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