Sens. McCain and Brownback shake hands at the press conference announcing Brownback's endorsement.

CONCORD, New Hampshire (CNN) – As the Republican field battles for the support of social conservative leaders, Arizona Sen. John McCain told reporters Friday that Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's endorsement would have "far more impact" than evangelical leader, Pat Robertson's decision to back former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Aboard his "Straight Talk Express," McCain called Giuliani's endorsement by the Christian Coalition founder a "stunning event," but added that in the social conservative community, Browback's backing would carry more weight. McCain pointed to the pro-life and pro-values communities where Brownback was "highly regarded."

Robertson's endorsement shocked many in the evangelical community given Giuliani's support for abortion and gay rights. Despite such differences, Robertson said he decided to endorse the former New York mayor because he was a "proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans."

While the Giuliani camp hopes the backing of a prominent social conservative will help him build support with evangelical Christians, McCain is also vying for the same bloc of voters. McCain noted that he had already felt a lift since his Brownback endorsement with key Brownback campaign staffers and supporters coming on board.

– CNN New Hampshire Producer Sareena Dalla

Brownback endorsed McCain Wednesday in Iowa.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain won the backing of Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback Wednesday, an endorsement that could help the Arizona senator draw support among social conservatives .

"I am endorsing the best pro-life candidate to beat Hillary Clinton," Brownback, who abandoned his own White House bid last month, said in a press conference in Dubuque.

"Here is a pro-life leader who will appoint strict-constructionist judges so that I believe we can end this night of wrong and have Roe v. Wade overturned," Brownback continued.

McCain, who hovers around fourth place in many recent polls in this crucial early-caucus state, hailed the endorsement as "significant"

"There are endorsements and then there are endorsements, support and different kinds of support," he said. "This time the support comes from one of the most respected men in America."

The endorsement comes nearly a month after Brownback ended his own presidential bid after lackluster fundraising and poor showings in both the national and crucial early primary and caucus state polls.

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Sen. Brownback has decided to endorse John McCain instead of Rudy Giuliani.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, will endorse Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president, CNN has learned.

The endorsement will come Wednesday when the Brownback and McCain appear together at a McCain campaign event in Iowa, a McCain campaign source and Republican Party sources told CNN's John King.

Brownback gave up his own bid for the White House last month, after lackluster fundraising and poor showings in both the national and crucial early primary and caucus state polls.

Brownback is a socially conservative senator who emphasized his opposition to abortion, gay marriage and other issues important to Christian conservatives, who make up an influential voting block within the Republican Party.

His endorsement could help McCain in Iowa, where caucuses will be held on January 3rd to kick off the presidential primary calendar. McCain trails badly in the polls in Iowa to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

McCain opposes legalizing abortion and gay marriage, but he is not a darling of the far right. Brownback's endorsement may help McCain with such social conservative voters.

Rudy Giuliani's campaign made a bid for Brownback's endorsement. The former New York City Mayor is the frontrunner in the national Republican polls but also trails Romney in Iowa. Giuliani's stance in support of abortion rights makes his job of winning over Christian conservatives a tough task, and it was thought that Brownback's endorsement would help Giuliani as well.

Related: Giuliani, McCain pick up key Christian conservative backing

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–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

Brownback met with Giuliani Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said Thursday he is "much more comfortable" with Rudy Giuliani's position on abortion after discussing the issue with the former New York City mayor earlier in the day.

"I understand the mayor’s position," Brownback said after meeting with the Republican presidential frontrunner. “Whether it’s funding [or] appointments on the court, I’m much more comfortable with that.”

Brownback even said “pro-choice” might be the wrong label for Giuliani’s position on the issue. “I don’t know," said the Kansas senator, "if he’d describe himself as a pro-choice mayor or a pro-choice candidate.”

“I oppose abortion,” Giuliani told reporters staked out in front of Brownback’s Senate office following the meeting. “I’d like to see a society in which there’s not abortion. I think you have to get there by changing people’s hearts and minds. I’m not in favor of changing the law and the right that presently exists.”

Both men said they support appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Sam Alito.

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Brownback says he's "nowhere near" ready to make an endorsement.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Pro-choice Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will ask for the endorsement of former presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, a fierce opponent of abortion, when the two meet later Thursday in Brownback’s Senate office.

Winning Brownback’s endorsement would be a boost to Giuliani’s efforts to court conservative voters but Brownback told CNN Thursday unless he can “influence” Giuliani’s “position to be pro-life” he’s not likely to back the former mayor.

“It would be really tough for me because I think that’ just the central issue of our time,” Brownback said.

Brownback said Giuliani’s “good on judges which is probably going to be the central life issue in the next administration” and suggested he liked his position on fiscal policy and the war on terrorism.

But “life is central, I mean we’ve got to get that right,” Brownback said.

Brownback has met or spoken with other GOP presidential candidates but hasn’t decided who he will endorse or when he might do it.

“I’m nowhere near making a decision,” he said.

Brownback formally announced his candidacy for president at the beginning of the year but dropped out of the race for the White House last week, citing a lack of fundraising. Brownback was in the low single digits in most national polls of Republican voters.

– CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett

Brownback became the fifth presidential candidate to drop his bid this election cycle.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Not a single vote for president has been cast, but the path to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is already littered with a record tying number of casualties.

On Friday, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, became the fifth declared Presidential hopeful to abandon his White House bid. Brownback’s decision to drop out of the race tied the record set in 2000, when five candidates bowed out before the Iowa caucuses, traditionally the first test of candidate strength.

Of course, this doesn’t take into account candidates who toyed with the idea of running, but never filed papers with the Federal Election Commission.

So, who has dropped out so far? Brownback; Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh; former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore; former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson; and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

In 2000, you may remember, the early casualties included former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander; former Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Dole; then-Ohio Rep. John Kasich, former Vice President Dan Quayle; and then-New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith.

– CNN Polling Director Keating Holland

Watch Brownback drop out of the White House race.

(CNN) — Mired in single digits in the polls and trailing his rivals in fund-raising, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas announced Friday afternoon that he is pulling out of the Republican presidential race.

"My yellow brick road just came short of the White House this time," Brownback said at a news conference in his hometown of Topeka.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback also addressed the summit - despite accounts from sources close to him indicating that Brownback is on the verge of ending his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

Brownback spoke of the need to fight to outlaw abortion, and to defend the role of faith in America's political and public life.
He made no mention of his candidacy, or his plans to end it.

Several sources close to Brownback have said he planned to make an announcement as early as later Friday in his home state of Kansas.

– CNN Chief National Correspondent John King

ABOARD THE ELECTION EXPRESS (CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is often mentioned in the same sentence as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, but Huckabee made clear Thursday he has no immediate plans to join his rival in abandoning a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Huckabee, who competed fiercely with Brownback for support from social conservatives, has had a difficult time competing with the frontrunners in both raising money and registering in the polls.

"It's not about the money, it's about the message," Huckabee said in an interview with CNN Chief National Correspondent John King in New Hampshire. "Our message is resonating and the more the message resonates, the more the money comes in. We are in a position where we have only seen one direction, we've gone up. And I am confident that will continue to happen as we approach the Iowa caucuses."

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Brownback will announce Friday he's bowing out of the presidential race.

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) – Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who was hoping his social conservative credentials would help him win the Republican presidential nomination, will announce Friday his decision to abandon his White House bid, well-placed Republican sources tell CNN.

The sources tell CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that Brownback plans to bow out of the race Friday and that the announcement will be made back home in Kansas. They also tell CNN that the Brownback campaign has less than $100,000 of cash on hand left in the bank and little prospect of improving fundraising due to the senator’s low poll numbers. The sources say that they know of no immediate plans for Brownback to endorse another Republican candidate, but note that the senator has said he would support the eventual GOP presidential nominee.

Full story

Brownback will make a 'major announcement,' CNN has learned.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback, dogged by low poll numbers and a poor fundraising showing last quarter, has decided to abandon his bid for the White House, people close to the senator tell the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, a campaign source tells CNN's Chief National Correspondent John King that all scheduling has been put on hold pending a "major announcement" from the Kansas Republican.

Full story

Giuliani says he is limiting himself to one debate or forum appearance each month.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he'll only participate in one debate or forum each month because, as he says, if you try to pick and choose "you end up insulting more people than you really intend to."

"I've been invited to like a dozen debates sometimes on the same day, and you just can't do them all. You just can't," the former New York City mayor said at a stop in Des Moines. "We've tried to have a rule of one per month, and the first one we accept. Then we've got to say 'no' to all the rest, because if I go to all the debates, I can't run my campaign."

Giuliani says it would be too hard to raise the money needed and impossible to make all the "political points that you want to make" if he were to accept more invitations to multiple-candidate events.

At a town hall meeting on the campus of Drake University, Giuliani was asked whether or not he would participate in the nationally televised AARP/Iowa Public Television 'Divided We Fail' GOP forum on October 25. So far Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee have confirmed. According to the forum's website, the other campaigns have said "they don't know."

"If we said 'no' to it, it does not at all have to do with your organization," Giuliani continued in his answer. "It has to do with the fact that we already agreed to a debate."

The 'Divided We Fail' Democratic forum back in September included all the top-tier Democrats except Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

-CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

Brownback failed to break the $1 million mark in fundraising last quarter.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, reported raising about $926,000 for his presidential campaign in the third quarter, and gave no indication Monday he would abandon his White House bid despite the lackluster haul.

Instead, the Brownback campaign noted that the Kansas senator is eligible to receive "at least $2.1 million in federal matching funds," and emphasized that the campaign is carrying no debt.

"With a crowded field and an entire month during which Senator Brownback campaigned in Iowa without holding fundraising events, we are pleased with the level of support for Senator Brownback's message," John Rankin, the senator's campaign spokesman, said in a statement. "We have always expected to run a grassroots campaign and to make the most of limited resources. The option of over $2 million in federal matching funds would provide additional support as we move forward."

Several of Brownback's opponents for the GOP presidential nomination had a much more successful three month fundraising period. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani raised $11 million, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney collected $10 million. Texas Rep. Ron Paul's success in the third quarter was the biggest surprise when he announced raising $5 million for his bid.

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–CNN Political Editor Mark Preston

Sen. Sam Brownback will join Sen. Joe Biden in Iowa on Friday to discuss their Iraq plan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Oscar and Felix of politics? Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, would be strong contenders for “The Political Odd Couple of the Year Award” – if one existed.

Biden is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, while Brownback is running for the GOP presidential nod. On matters of policy, they don’t share that much in common – except what to do about Iraq.

So, the two presidential hopefuls will meet up in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday to talk about their plan to bring stability to the war torn nation. Specifically, the two senators will discuss their legislation that calls for decentralizing Iraq's federal government and giving more control to local and regional groups. Their amendment passed easily in the Senate last week.

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Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said he needs to finish at least fourth in Iowa.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said in an on-line discussion Wednesday he would drop out of the race for the White House if he did not finish in the top four in Iowa.

In the question and answer session on The Washington Post, a person asked the Kansas Republican, "Is it true that you will drop out of the race if you don't finish in the top 4 in Iowa?"

"That is correct,” Brownback responded. “I need to finish in that group to move on forward."

–CNN Assignment Editor Katy Byron

(CNN) — Most of the Republican presidential candidates said in a debate Tuesday that they support a Middle Eastern oil firm's bid for a large stake in a major U.S. stock exchange.

The majority of candidates agreed that the deal sealed earlier this year by oil-rich Borse Dubai for 20 percent of the NASDAQ stock exchange did not impact national security.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani fielded the question first saying the foreign company should be able to own 20 percent of the stock exchange and that Americans should support foreign-domestic deals "if they are considered to be safe. If they pass safety and security clearances," he said.

The deal was highly scrutinized by the financial and political community opposed to foreign ownership of U.S. businesses.

"But you just can't rule out foreign companies. There's a whole procedure you go through as to whether or not are they safe. Are they secure? We cannot stop doing business with the rest of the world," Giuliani added.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, once a businessman and venture capitalist, responded enthusiastically.

"Of course, you let a country invest in the United States,” he said. “Because we're going to have to stop thinking always in terms of defense and trying to keep other people out.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Tennesssee Sen. Fred Thompson, and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback agreed, but California Rep. Duncan Hunter and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo did not.

Hunter said he does not believe the company should have been allowed the large stake in the exchange.

"Because I don't trust them," he said.

"If Dubai wanted to buy Wal-Mart, I might think about it," Tancredo joked.

–CNN Assignment Editor Katy Byron

Iraq and a crowded 2008 presidential field apparently make for strange bedfellows.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, have a bipartisan proposal to partition Iraq along sectarian lines with Baghdad remaining the seat of a national, federal government in the Middle Eastern country.  The Democrat and the Republican — each of whom is seeking his respective party's nomination for president — will campaign together in Iowa and tout their joint plan.  Carol Costello reports.

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Sen. Brownback, above, along with Sen. Biden, both endorse the same Iraq plan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Sam Brownback, R- Kansas, and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, will hold a news conference in Iowa on Friday to discuss their plan for Iraq, in what campaign officials say is the first ever bipartisan presidential campaign event in U.S. history.

Brownback and Biden are both running for president.

"Joe and I might be running for the nomination of two different parties, but we agree on one thing: the American people want progress in Iraq and this represents a viable way forward to stability and success," Brownback said in a statement released by the campaigns.

Biden added that he looked forward to the joint-campaign event "to explain how the Biden-Brownback-Boxer amendment makes Iraq the world's problem while establishing a political solution that gives Iraq's warring factions breathing room to resolve their differences."

The amendment aims to establish a federal system of government in Iraq and passed in the Senate with a vote of 75 to 23 last month.

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One of the empty podiums on stage Thursday night in Baltimore.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) — There were ten podiums on the stage, but only six candidates showed up.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, all said they had scheduling conflicts and skipped Thursday night's PBS All American Presidential Forum on minority issues. The Republican candidates who participated in the debate blasted their rivals for their absence.

"Frankly, I'm embarrassed," former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said. "I'm embarrassed for our party and I'm embarrassed for those who did not come, because there's long been a divide in this country, and it doesn't get better when we don't show up."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said it hurts the Republican Party when candidates choose not to participate in debates.

"I want to say just at the outset, I apologize for the candidates that aren't here," Brownback said. "I think this is a disgrace that they're not here."

But moderator Tom Joyner made jokes, at their expense.

"And let me take a moment right here and now to say hello to those of you viewing from home," Joyner said. "Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Senator John McCain. Governor Mitt Romney. And Senator Fred Thompson. Well, you know, I had to call them out."

Related: Not up for debate

Related: Commentary: Why is the GOP scared of black voters?

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

GOP candidates do not bring up President Bush much on the campaign trail.

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP)– Republican presidential candidates can't be any more clear: President Bush isn't welcome on the campaign trail.

Competing to succeed him, top GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain barely utter Bush's name. They essentially ignore the lame-duck president, or give him only passing credit, as they rail against the status quo and promise to fix problems he hasn't solved.

"We all know Americans want change," said McCain, an Arizona senator, explaining the aversion to aligning with Bush. "I give him credit for a number of things but I think the fact is Americans are turning the page, including our Republican primary voters."

The candidates are walking a fine line. They are trying to tap into the deep discontent those voters feel about the state of the country without alienating any who hold Bush in high regard. At the same time, they have to counter the Democrats' powerful arguments for a new direction.

How candidates handle the 800-pound elephant in the room now could have implications beyond the primary. Privately, Republican strategists agree their nominee will lose next fall if the general election is a referendum on Bush. They say GOP candidates are wise to distance themselves from the president now, given his unpopularity among the public at large.

Bush holds the opposite view.

Asked last week whether he is an asset or a liability for Republican candidates, Bush replied: "Strong asset."

To be sure, none of the candidates want to be attached to Bush's legacy, afraid that doing so will make them sitting ducks for Democrats.

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