Brownback Forges Ahead, Through Iowa

ABC News’ Lindsey Ellerson reports: Republican Senator from Kansas Sam Brownback continues to focus his presidential campaign on Iowa saying, "the route forward is what it has been in the past, through Iowa," the presidential candidate told ABC News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Despite a disappointing ranking in the Ames Iowa Straw poll, coming in third behind former governor Mitt Romney and former governor Mike Huckabee, Brownback says he should not be discounted as a strong presidential contender.

"The vote doesn’t take place until the first of the year or middle of December," Brownback said.  "We’ve got a good ground game organization and before you just discount it, let’s look at the facts and the situation on the ground."

However, the facts on the ground may be echoed best by an image captured by the Associated Press last week, which shows Brownback speaking to an empty room in Manchester, New Hampshire.

When asked about this photo, the senator responded, "Somebody counted, we had 53 people there."  He went on to add that the photo was taken at the end of a two hour session, and many audience members had already left the event. 

Watch video from the interview HERE.

But, the Brownback buzz is beginning to wane as Huckabee fights to take over the "outsider candidate" role.  While the Brownback campaign spent more than $300,000 on the Iowa Straw Poll, Huckabee was able to defeat the senator by spending less than half of that sum.  Not only did the former Arkansas governor gain momentum with his second-place finish, his poll numbers are rising above Brownback’s as well. 

Brownback chalks up his defeat in Iowa to a "tough issue environment."

"We were hoping to do better in Ames," said Brownback.  "I had difficulty in the immigration issue…and the fair tax people came behind Governor Huckabee," creating a supportive environment for the former governor.

But, while Brownback acknowledges, "we’ve got to get our numbers to bounce up," he suggests his strong conservative record will be enough to keep him afloat.

"I think the combination is you have to unite economic and social conservatives to get together the block to win," said Brownback.  "I think that’s why I’m different from Gov. Huckabee.  I think he’s going to have difficulty uniting economic conservatives that he has to have, that we {Republicans} have to have to be able to win."

The senator also concedes that with the entrance of Fred Thompson into the presidential foray, the field in Iowa may change.

"I don’t know what it does with Fred Thompson getting into the race, it’s a new dynamic," Brownback said.  "He doesn’t have a ground organization in Iowa, we’ll see if he can put one together in time for the caucuses."

Brownback plans to return to Iowa this weekend, maintaining his stance that "the route forward is through the states and a key one for us is Iowa and were going to keep pressing forward there."

ABC News’ Julia Bain contributed to this report.