LJWorld.com

Washington — Sen. John McCain may be on the verge of wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, but Sen. Sam Brownback says his colleague still needs to work on warming up to Christian conservatives.

Since his own presidential campaign fizzled out last year, Brownback, R-Kan., has played a key role in easing suspicion on the religious right, where some leaders have openly questioned whether McCain embraces their social agenda.

Besides campaigning for McCain in at least a half dozen states, Brownback has held strategy talks with leading Christian activists, reached out to Catholic voters and advised McCain to share publicly the personal experiences that have brought him closer to God.

"He just needs to reach out and get to know the faith community more, and they need to get to know him more," Brownback said in an interview. "Clearly, I think we need to continue to work at that."

Brownback said his task remains crucial, even as the departure of other contenders has cleared the way for McCain to become the Republican party's nominee. Many evangelical voters are still attracted to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and McCain cannot risk alienating a group that makes up about a third of the conservative voter base.

Earlier this month, Brownback met with Gary Bauer after the conservative Christian power broker endorsed McCain to discuss "what else might be done" to help McCain with social conservatives. He's also had similar conversations with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Frank Pavone, head of the anti-abortion group Priests for Life.

"Brownback's purpose is to reassure evangelicals that McCain is OK," said Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist. "The best use of Brownback's time is to go to the people he knows personally and use those connections to help McCain."

Brownback's work appears to be paying some dividends. While Pavone does not plan to endorse a candidate, he sent a memo out last week titled "Keep your priorities straight." Pavone warned his followers not to let the search for a "true" conservative candidate distract them from the practical consideration of who can actually win the election.

"It does little good if the person I felt most comfortable supporting doesn't get to actually govern and implement those positions I like so much," Pavone said.

McCain spokeswoman Crystal Benton said Brownback is valued as a supporter who stood by McCain while the campaign was still sputtering.

"He came on board in the fall, before Senator McCain started to surge in the polls, and has been our leading surrogate to pro-life, pro-family events across the country," Benton said.

One of the Senate's most prominent abortion foes, Brownback trumpets McCain's "24-year pro-life voting record" in Congress, his support of the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and McCain's pledge to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

Brownback said he also has encouraged McCain to talk more about the little girl he and his wife adopted in 1993 from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. And how McCain's faith grew as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, when a Vietnamese prison guard loosened his ropes and drew a cross in the dirt with his sandal.

"They're just gorgeous statements of experience on his part, and I think he ought to speak about that just to show people he identifies," Brownback said.