Very recently we’ve finally heard of a viable candidate for the 2008 presidential elections. Liberals hate him because of his stands against abortion. In fact, it’s highly likely that his fellow GOP running mates don’t like him very much either. It looks like former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Senator John McCain of Arizona lead all GOP candidates right now. But they probably won’t get all the votes they want---at least not from true social conservatives.

It seems as though much information about Sam Brownback is already known. Brownback has a stellar political record so far—at least to social conservatives. In short, Brownback supports every pro-life related topic on abortion, fetal pain, embryonic stem cell research, cloning, drugs on assisted suicide, and has received numerous awards for his ‘pro-life’ advocacy. On the other hand, Giuliani and McCain strongly support forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research, and Giuliani also strongly backs abortion.

Those advocating the five Catholic “non-negotiables”(abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, ESCR, and cloning) seem to be getting clearer. Most Christians favor pro-life measures, most of which is included in the above five “non-negotiables”. But Catholics push things a step higher. And Brownback seems to be a true Catholic who doesn’t pick and choose what he will believe.

It’s more than interesting that other famous ‘pro-life’ advocates have jumped on the Brownback ‘bandwagon’. They include Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, former Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and Father Frank Pavone(Priests for Life). Most may remember Father Pavone, who stayed with Terri Schaivo until she was starved to death in the end.

Monaghan, one of the nation’s richest and most controversial Roman Catholic philanthropists, is putting his money and influence into making Kansas Senator Brownback the next president. The former pizza magnate is advising the 2008 presidential exploratory committee for Brownback, who is a longtime social conservative that recently converted to Catholicism.

But any religious undertones could cause consternation from more ‘secular’ voters. Those voters seem to ignore the facts of betting on the most obvious answer even if those answers are not ‘known’, but is pointed to by all the facts. They seem to discount ‘life’(mentioned first in the Declaration) as expendable for those considered of little worth. They seem to forget when ‘life’ actually starts, and where it ends. But even worse, ‘life’ for them after mortal death is not even a concern. They seem to forget what it really means if abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and cloning are really killing life with a soul.

In a rare interview, Monaghan told Newsweek in 2006: “I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don’t want to be on the sidelines.” Deal Hudson(Director- Morley Institute// former advisor to Bush on Catholic issues) said “Tom doesn’t want to be associated with anyone who’s going to compromise. The message will be that Brownback meets the standard not just for what a presidential candidate should be, but also what a Catholic should be.” It’s interesting that two previously announced ‘Catholic’ candidates, Kennedy and Kerry, distanced themselves from Catholicism altogether to try to get elected. Kerry was even ‘excommunicated’ when he chose to support every “non-negotiable”.

There’s no doubt it will be an uphill battle for Brownback all the way to the presidency. But if he loses, at least he can go to his Creator after death and say he did the best he could. It looks like a few others that will be able to say that as well.

Kevin Roeten
http://kevinroeten.us/