Sam Brownback for VP?

With all the Vice-Presidential speculation in the past few weeks, I have been wondering why Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) has not received more mention as John McCain's pick. For example, Brownback was invited to meet with McCain in Arizona along with Mitt Romney and Governors Charlie Crist of Florida and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Crist, Jindal, and Romney have all drawn frequent VP speculation: everything I have read about those meetings Brownback has hardly got any mention, while the other three have dominated the conversation.

Here are a few reasons why Brownback is a legitimate contender:

Age: With McCain turning 72 before the election, he probably needs a fairly young VP candidate. Brownback will be 52 at the time of the election. Jindal's very young age of 36 has sometimes fueled the speculation as a possible VP. McCain may not want someone quite that young though (it sure would make McCain look old...). Brownback, while still pretty young, is at least more than half McCain's age.

Conservative credentials: Brownback is very popular among social Conservatives. He has regularly sponsored and voted for pro-family bills. He has also worked hard on issues like the genocide in Darfur, trying to stop the violence. Brownback tends to be popular among fiscal conservatives as well, getting a rating of 98% from the fiscally conservative Club for Growth in 2006.

Helped McCain get nominated: Crist's endorsement of McCain right before the Florida primary, an endorsement that likely pushed him over the top in that state, is probably the main reason there is so much Crist VP speculation. Brownback's endorsement of McCain after dropping his own bid may have helped him just as much. At the time of Brownback's endorsement, McCain was still far down in the polls (I believe that Brownback's endorsement may have come just before McCain's surge). Brownback's endorsement, if nothing else, at least reassured some initially reluctant social Conservatives about McCain (I know at least one social conservative who ended up supporting McCain in large part because of Brownback's endorsement).

Iraq: Brownback's more moderate positions on Iraq could help with anti-war voters who would likely vote for McCain otherwise.

Temperament: While McCain is known for his explosive temper, Brownback is very laid back and seems to be easy to get along with.

Brownback does have his weaknesses: he doesn't have an overwhelming amount of charisma and he didn't do that well in debates, to name a few. But I think he deserves at least a little more mention.