Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback says he’s bringing in the kind of celebrities who’ll attract religious conservatives to his reception area at the Iowa GOP’s Straw Poll this Saturday.
"Probably one of the biggest is Norma McCorvey. She’s the Roe of Roe v Wade who’s adamantly pro-life and supporting my candidacy," Brownback says. "We have the gentleman that did the film ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ the executive producer of it, Steve McEveety."
Brownback’s campaign is handing out fliers which describe Brownback’s reception in Ames as an "afternoon of prayer and celebration."
Brownback is telling Iowa reporters he "has a shot" at winning the Straw Poll. "I won’t say that we’re going to. I don’t think that’s predictable and it doesn’t determine whether or not we move forward," Brownback says. "But we’ve worked it hard and we think we’re starting to get some real results and think we’ve got a real chance at doing well."
Brownback, a Kansas Senator, has ranked in the bottom tier of GOP candidates in public opinion polls here in Iowa.
This past Sunday’s debate featuring the nine Republican presidential candidates opened with Brownback and Mitt Romney clashing over Brownback’s allegations that Romney’s a late convert to the pro-life cause.
"The prior debates, it’s been tough to get in the view screen when the media just covers the front three or four candidates," Brownback says. "…With the proximity to the Ames Straw Poll, it gave a chance to put more comparison and contrasting with the core issues."
During the debate Romney said he’s tired of people like Brownback being "holier-than-thou" on the abortion issue just because they’ve been publicly "pro-life" longer than he has.