George Will notes that "two candidates could have special strength with" the religious right and social conservatives in 2008. One is Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), "if in 2006 he survives what seems certain to be a difficult campaign for a third Senate term." The other will be Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), "whose recent travels have taken him to, among other places, Iowa, which is close to Kansas, and to New Hampshire."
"Brownback, who is not coy about his interest in the 2008 nomination, doubts that Santorum -- a friend and former Capitol Hill roommate who participated in Brownback's recent conversion to Roman Catholicism -- will seek that nomination. Brownback notes that the first mini-event of the next presidential cycleóthe Ames, Iowa, straw poll in August 2007 -- will come just nine months after Santorum's re-election campaign ends. Other candidates will have had more time to organize in Iowa."