Kansas senator seeking conservative mantle

updated 11:16 a.m. ET March 21, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa - It's just past 8:30 a.m. on a snowy weekend morning when the unassuming presidential candidate strolls into a hotel conference room.

"Hey, folks. I'm Sam Brownback. Good to meet you," says the Republican senator from Kansas, personally greeting the sparse crowd of some two dozen people munching on pastries and sipping coffee.

Standing at the podium, Brownback eschews talk of his accomplishments and criticism of his better-known rivals. Instead, he explains where he stands on various issues and seeks to define himself for the right-leaning GOP voters who matter in primaries - "a full-scale, economic and social conservative with a smile."

Admitted underdog
With the GOP's influential conservative wing still scrambling for a candidate to back for the 2008 nomination, Brownback presents a paradox.

Brownback has the kind of unquestioned credentials as a family values crusader that conservatives have long sought in a presidential candidate. Yet he hasn't been able to leverage his credentials to break out of a crowded pack of White House hopefuls.

One potential reason: Some Republicans fear he may be too conservative to win a national election.

"We realize that right now probably the Republican Party is the underdog in the presidential race," said Mike Mahaffey, a former Iowa state GOP chairman who has not backed anyone yet. "We're looking for the candidate who can win that race."

The top-tier candidates - Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney - are viewed as more electable than Brownback but all have political vulnerabilities and histories that make them suspect to conservatives.

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Still, the three are outpacing Brownback in building solid national campaigns, with Giuliani and McCain leading in national popularity polls. Brownback barely registers in such surveys.

Brownback, nevertheless, sees a significant opportunity to emerge as the right-flank's choice.

"The beauty of it for me is, you've got the three guys with more money and organization to my left in a conservative party," Brownback told The Associated Press, despite the fact that McCain's voting record is very much in line with his.

Still, Brownback concedes the challenges that lie ahead as an underdog.

"Every day you're just kind of scratching and climbing and moving forward," he said.

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