I Was Wrong: Apparently No Smack from Brownback

A followup to an earlier blog post. Apparently, Sam Brownback didn't really come after Rudy G



Brownback: He didn't know about 'Rudy is wrong' e-mail, but nominee will be 'pro-life'

USA TODAY’S ON POLITICS


By: Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence


Justin Miller at The Real Clear Politics Blog has followed up on the story about a statement from the presidential campaign of Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback that fellow Republican Rudy Giuliani "is wrong" about abortion (see our Thursday post about that).


Brownback tells Miller that he didn't know his staff was going to send out the "Rudy is wrong" statement. All the same, says the strongly "pro-life" senator, it doesn't reverse his earlier position that he could support a "pro-choice" Republican candidate if that person is conservative enough on other key issues.

"I do think it's important that the party be pro-life," Brownback says. But, "we need to be a big tent party." And he said it is important to embrace the pro-choice wing, Miller writes.
But Brownback also added, according to Miller, that he believes the eventual GOP nominee will be an abortion opponent.

Here's my original post....

The debate's finished, but apparently the smack talk isn't. Apparently Sam Brownback couldn't get these in while the debate was still going on. I got this release from Brownback's campaign... Rudy is Wrong"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... life comes first. "Dear Friend,Like you, I am proud that the Republican Party has long stood for protecting innocent human life in our party's platform.Unfortunately one of the current front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudy Giuliani, is a vocal and unapologetic supporter of the "right" to abortion. He made this clear once again in the South Carolina debate last night."It's best for us to respect each other's differences and allow for choice," said Giuliani, in an interview with Fox News this past Sunday."If we don't find a way of uniting around broad principles that will appeal to a large segment of this country, if we can't figure that out, we are going to lose this election," Giuliani said in a Houston speech last week.My friend, Rudy is wrong. Like you and me, Senator Brownback is a true believer that there is no "choice" involved in life-or-death matters - we must always stand up for protecting innocent human life.Senator Brownback believes that the next Republican nominee for President must be pro-life in order to win - we must stand by our principles and bedrock foundation as a party.Giuliani's comments have been praised by Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards."It's encouraging to see that the front runner for the Republican nomination for president supports the right to make personal private health care decisions free from government intrusion," said Richards."

Giuliani is pro-choice and at the front of the pack - the days of the anti-choice strangle-hold on the Republican Party are numbered," Richards adds. It is a sad statement when the President of Planned Parenthood-the largest abortion provider in America-is praising the leading Republican candidate. This is NOT the direction our party needs to take. What Rudy doesn't seem to understand is that among the hallowed rights of the Declaration of Independence-"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"- life comes first.The pro-life movement has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years. Public opinion is turning to our side, the Supreme Court recently upheld a national ban on an abortion procedure, and the Republican Party has grown increasingly pro-life, as have the candidates it nominates for public office. This is NOT the time to turn back in our efforts to make America a country that respects life.

As Republicans, we should not compromise or apologize for that.Please visit our campaign website to sign up for Team Brownback. Together, we will keep our Republican Party proudly pro-life." Sincerely, David Barron South Carolina Chairman Brownback for President