Religious leader backs Brownback in Sioux City
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, May 25, 2007
Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback said religion has a strong role to play in America at a time when "an enormous set of cultural and economic issues are on the plate."
In a Sioux City Holiday Inn campaign stop Thursday that drew 100 people, Republican Brownback encouraged Iowans to caucus for him in January 2008, the first step in the run for the presidential nomination. He brought along Christian evangelical leader David Barton, who told the crowd that Brownback was a "champion" on issues concerning "faith and family."
With 4,500 votes over 12 years, it's easy to know where Brownback stands, Barton said. He cited Brownback's ratings from conservative groups, including a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life and others in the high 90s.
"That's a conservative guy, he's not a recent convert, like some of the guys," Barton said.
Further, he said, "you can also tell a guy by his enemies," and cited a 19 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union and an "F" grade from the National Education Association, which drew applause from the crowd.
"Socialists just don't care for Sam much," said Barton, president of the Texas-based WallBuilders group, which seeks to give insight into the Christian values the founders of America possessed.
Said Brownback, "I believe in a robust public square for the celebration of faith. This has been a big, tough issue for us as a nation. I believe in the separation of church and state, but not the removal of faith from the public square. That faith is the central part of the background of the United States."
Brownback said Barton is a good backer to have for his campaign.
"David is well known across the country for his research and his knowledge on really the heritage, and particularly the spiritual heritage, of the country. His support I think is a signal to a number of people that this is somebody that understands the Constitution and also understands the role of faith in the United States ... and doesn't try to run it out of the public square," Brownback said.
Barton frequently quoted Scripture as the underpinning for stances on issues, including judicial activism. He paraphrased Psalms 2 as, "fear God, honor his son or he will get ticked off at you (judges)." Barton said only "24 percent of the nation supports abortion on demand," yet judges have opened the door to abortion rights.
Barton said evangelical Christians number nearly 60 million and they have should be engaged politically. "We get to choose our leaders, and we'll answer to God," he said.
Barton reviewed voting statistics of people who identify themselves as evangelicals and said inroads in voting turnout proceeded in 2000, 2002 and 2004, but went backwards in 2006, with disastrous results for the country.
"Christians didn't show up, didn't vote their values," Barton said, citing the drop from 28.9 million evangelicals voting in 2004 and only 20.5 million in 2006.
Democrats took control of both federal chambers in November 2006, and Barton said he expected the worst out of Congress through the 2008 election.
Brownback's latest visit to Iowa came with several news angles. He will open his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines today, and just before coming to Sioux City Thursday he received an endorsement of his candidacy from the woman of the groundbreaking Roe V. Wade abortion case. Brownback said he wants to be the president appointing a U.S. Supreme Court justice who will override the 1973 Roe V. Wade decision
Brownback said he was gratified to have the support of Norma McCorvey, whom he said in 1970 was an impoverished pregnant woman who was convinced by ambitious lawyers to be the plaintiff in a case challenging the Texas law prohibiting abortion. In Roe V. Wade, the court's ruling made abortion legal.
Since that time, Brownback said, tens of millions of abortions have been performed. McCorvey in the late 1990s moved her position on abortion to one of pro-life, and she now has a ministry titled Roe No More and has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision.
In a statement, McCorvey said "Sam Brownback's love for all Americans at every stage of development is unquestioned and his leadership of the pro-life movement is unrivaled." She said Brownback has a "sincerity" for overturning the federal right to abortion for women.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
In a Sioux City Holiday Inn campaign stop Thursday that drew 100 people, Republican Brownback encouraged Iowans to caucus for him in January 2008, the first step in the run for the presidential nomination. He brought along Christian evangelical leader David Barton, who told the crowd that Brownback was a "champion" on issues concerning "faith and family."
With 4,500 votes over 12 years, it's easy to know where Brownback stands, Barton said. He cited Brownback's ratings from conservative groups, including a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life and others in the high 90s.
"That's a conservative guy, he's not a recent convert, like some of the guys," Barton said.
Further, he said, "you can also tell a guy by his enemies," and cited a 19 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union and an "F" grade from the National Education Association, which drew applause from the crowd.
"Socialists just don't care for Sam much," said Barton, president of the Texas-based WallBuilders group, which seeks to give insight into the Christian values the founders of America possessed.
Said Brownback, "I believe in a robust public square for the celebration of faith. This has been a big, tough issue for us as a nation. I believe in the separation of church and state, but not the removal of faith from the public square. That faith is the central part of the background of the United States."
Brownback said Barton is a good backer to have for his campaign.
"David is well known across the country for his research and his knowledge on really the heritage, and particularly the spiritual heritage, of the country. His support I think is a signal to a number of people that this is somebody that understands the Constitution and also understands the role of faith in the United States ... and doesn't try to run it out of the public square," Brownback said.
Barton frequently quoted Scripture as the underpinning for stances on issues, including judicial activism. He paraphrased Psalms 2 as, "fear God, honor his son or he will get ticked off at you (judges)." Barton said only "24 percent of the nation supports abortion on demand," yet judges have opened the door to abortion rights.
Barton said evangelical Christians number nearly 60 million and they have should be engaged politically. "We get to choose our leaders, and we'll answer to God," he said.
Barton reviewed voting statistics of people who identify themselves as evangelicals and said inroads in voting turnout proceeded in 2000, 2002 and 2004, but went backwards in 2006, with disastrous results for the country.
"Christians didn't show up, didn't vote their values," Barton said, citing the drop from 28.9 million evangelicals voting in 2004 and only 20.5 million in 2006.
Democrats took control of both federal chambers in November 2006, and Barton said he expected the worst out of Congress through the 2008 election.
Brownback's latest visit to Iowa came with several news angles. He will open his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines today, and just before coming to Sioux City Thursday he received an endorsement of his candidacy from the woman of the groundbreaking Roe V. Wade abortion case. Brownback said he wants to be the president appointing a U.S. Supreme Court justice who will override the 1973 Roe V. Wade decision
Brownback said he was gratified to have the support of Norma McCorvey, whom he said in 1970 was an impoverished pregnant woman who was convinced by ambitious lawyers to be the plaintiff in a case challenging the Texas law prohibiting abortion. In Roe V. Wade, the court's ruling made abortion legal.
Since that time, Brownback said, tens of millions of abortions have been performed. McCorvey in the late 1990s moved her position on abortion to one of pro-life, and she now has a ministry titled Roe No More and has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision.
In a statement, McCorvey said "Sam Brownback's love for all Americans at every stage of development is unquestioned and his leadership of the pro-life movement is unrivaled." She said Brownback has a "sincerity" for overturning the federal right to abortion for women.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
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