Brownback's Explanation

Leon Wolf who regularly blogs for the Brownback campaign (brownbacker.com) offered this complex explanation for the straw poll loss.

..... “religious conservatives” do not appear to be lining up behind Huckabee - Huckabee’s second-place finish was entirely due to the fact that the folks from FairTax.org, who bought 1,000 tickets which went almost exclusively to Huckabee. The FairTaxers brag about this on their website here. Without those votes, Huckabee would have finished behind Tom Tancredo, and barely ahead of Ron Paul. While the alternative flat tax proposal put forth by Senator Brownback would be easier to manage, and a more effective reform of the tax code, Mike Huckabee needs to embrace some sort of tax proposal wherein he has very little control over tax policy, in order to assuage the well-founded fears of conservatives about Mike Huckabee’s tax history. While Sam Brownback has never voted for a tax increase in his life, Mike Huckabee is perhaps the only repeat-offender tax-hiker in the Republican field. Whatever one thinks of the FairTax, it is clear that Huckabee’s finish in Iowa did not represent “religious conservatives” lining up behind him. Senator Brownback’s first-place finish in the Students for Life straw poll, in which Mike Huckabee barely registered at 5%, proves the truth of this statement.

The Brownback campaign ran no television advertising, no radio, and no media efforts in the run-up to the Ames poll. the entire operation was exclusively grassroots. The FairTax organization at the Ames straw poll was strong and unexpected, but Senator Brownback’s volunteers and donors know the true story behind what happened in Iowa, and have remained loyal to him. And unlike some of the other “major” candidates who have unwisely decided to skip Iowa, Senator Brownback’s strong finish at Ames provides him a ticket forward to the Iowa caucuses, where the Senator expects a strong finish.

Wow.. I'm speechless.. The Brownback campaign ran no sort of media efforts? I know Leon carefully worded that, but making robo-calls all over Iowa attacking Mitt Romney, and glorifying his own holier-than-thou stance on pro-life is without a doubt a form of advertising.

Huckabee would've grabbed all 15% of Brownback's support if those who supported the senator knew the Governor's experience as a Baptist minister and the actions he took as a pro-life governor of Arkansas. As far as I see it, I think Huckabee received 33% of the vote.

What is the Students for Life straw poll? I think the Brownback campaign is making too much of a big deal out of that insignificant poll. Again, the 5% Huckabee received only shows that lot of people still don't know the Governor well. Just wait a see, Leon, my friend. I think since that straw poll, lot of people have come to know Gov. Huckabee.

About fairfax.org, cry me a river, Leon... the 1000 that voted are regular people not fairfax robots. They also wanted a President that was strong on defense, pro-life, and had overall conservative principles.

I have nothing against Senator Brownback. I do think that he over-ran on his pro-life position and made himself look very pompous. In any case, I think he is a great senator, and should stay that way..

Justin