Additionally, look: he wants to replace fossil fuels with nuclear and biofuels.  Your criticism of his electricity-for-gasoline exchange completely glosses over that argument just four sentences after you quote the Des Moines register.

There are, of course, myriad problems with this approach (significant strain on the energy grid, more mercury emissions, shifting demand will raise coal prices, etc.), but he can pitch it.  What is curious is how he plans to get enough air time to make a dent with this argument.  Since this issue won't win him the nomination, it only works if he gets on TV.  God willing, it's just not sexy enough to do that.  The less I have to Senator Brownback pontificate on cultural issues, the better.

My guess is that - whether fair or not - between the Da Vinci Code book and upcoming movie, voters will not be willing to put a member of that group in the White House.  I'd put Brownback in the "non-starter" category.  

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/religion/11172313.htm

On the Republican side, money is king; there is nowhere near the "outsider"/grassroots constituency for them as for Dems in the early primary states. So when McCain starts piling up the cash and the consultants, I think most serious challengers will be sidelined, and he'll be, like Bush, able to run against a series of lesser funded and less well prepared candidates on his right, who will divide whatever anti-McCain vote exists in the early states, which this cycle look to be IA, NH then MI.

By the time they get to a state where Big Church matters, McCain will be running as a veteran/war hero and will have mouthed enough slogans and appeared in enough churches to have the support of the few people who matter on their side. In other wides, their activists are not independent minded enough to defy their own leadership (by definition).

I'm not happy about this but I'm afraid we're going to have, for the first time since Reagan, a really strong Republican candidate to contend with in 08. And given how badly we did against weak candidates in 88, 00 and 04, I'm not optimistic.

(On the upside, I think this gives us licence to nominate someone like Feingold who could really put forth a message of real reform for the Democratic party.)

The fact is that Brownback's ultra-conservative message resonates with GOP primary voters and you can expect to see his numbers skyrocket as soon as he begins campaigning.

Regardless, an announcement for the presidency two whole years before the election would be unprecedented.