Sen. Brownback Drops Out of 2008 Campaign

Sen. Brownback drops out of 2008 campaign

TOPEKA, Kansas (Reuters) - Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas, a two-term U.S. senator whose presidential campaign failed to draw money or widespread support from an intended base of religious conservatives, dropped out of the 2008 White House race on Friday.

"Today I'm ending my candidacy. My yellow brick road just came short of the White House this time," said Brownback, who was flanked by a small group of supporters as he announced his decision from the state capitol in Topeka.

Brownback, a practicing Roman Catholic who billed himself as a conservative Christian defender of family values, had just $94,000 in campaign funds at the end of September after finishing third in the Iowa straw poll in August.

When Brownback announced his candidacy in January he was seen by some political analysts as a darling of the religious right, the type of unshakable social conservative who could do well in key early voting states like Iowa.

Christian activists exerted strong influence in Republican nominating primaries and were courted heavily by President George W. Bush in his 2004 reelection.

Brownback said in January he was seeking the presidency because he wanted to renew "the family and the culture" in America. Among his stated goals were energy independence, an alternative flat tax, an improved health care system, protecting marriage from homosexual unions and opposing abortion.