Brownback Out

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has decided to end his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. RCP story

Brownback, a very conservative evangelical Senator, had hoped that his candidacy would catch fire among religious conservatives, but he had much of his thunder stolen by the former Governor of this state, Mike Huckabee. I am actually a little surprised that the reverse was not true. Brownback is much more conservative than Huckabee in reality, which is easily verified if anyone can get past Huckabee's soundbites and look at his tenure as Arkansas governor. Alas, Huckabee seems more personable and has performed well in debates. Further, I think that Brownback's surprisingly responsible stance on Iraq probably hurt him among doctrinaire conservatives.

In any event, Brownback is doing the responsible thing and ending his campaign. He wasn't going to win. There are several other candidates on both sides that should follow his lead.

Brownback has designs of the Kansas governorship in 2010.