Kansas Senator and GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback says Thursday night’s debate featuring him and nine other Republican presidential hopefuls has started to "jumble" the crowded field.
"I think the race was tightened and I think it was impacted by how the various candidates came out on some of the core topics, like life," Brownback said during a telephone interview with Radio Iowa.
Brownback supports repeal of Roe versus Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion and Brownback suggests one of rival Rudy Giuliani’s answers during the debate will come back to haunt the former New York City mayor. Guiliani said at one point that women should have the right to get an abortion, but later said repeal of Roe versus Wade would be "o.k." because then the issue would be left up to states to decide.
Brownback called that a "surprising" response from Giuliani. "I don’t know how you get the nomination of this party with that type of response," Brownback said. "…And I think you’re going to start seeing the field jumbled by that. It’s been sort of presumed that there’s a front three, but I think that’s going to start jumbling."
According to Brownback, the personality part of the campaign is coming to a close and voters are beginning to focus on issues. "That’s what the race will be decided upon. It’ll be decided on core principles and stances on those issues," Brownback said.
Brownback is campaigning in Iowa this weekend. Brownback is in Muscatine and Davenport this evening. He’ll speak at a prayer seminar in Davenport on Saturday morning, then attend the Pella Tulip Festival Saturday afternoon.