While Perry invited all 49 other governors to attend the Houston rally, Brownback stood as the only state leader who accepted the invite. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that since June, Brownback’s office, “has been quiet on the subject,” and would not confirm his plans, saying only that the governor would be on vacation when the event takes place this weekend.

Brownback’s decision to attend the prayer rally — hosted by AFA, classified an “anti-gay” hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — caused a stir among LBGT rights groups in Kansas, the Texas Independent previously reported.

Last month, Kansas Equality Coalition Chairman Thomas Witt told the Independent activists protested Brownback’s acceptance to attend the event outside the state house, calling on their governor to cancel his plans. Witt said in light of AFA’s extremist anti-gay position it was highly inappropriate for Brownback to attend the gathering while his failure to respond to the activist’s request was “incredibly disturbing.”

AFA president Tim Wildmon has called homosexual behavior “immoral, unnatural and unhealthy,” while Bryan Fischer, the group’s director of policy analysis, has compared the “risks” and “dangers” of homosexuality to drug use, and said Nazism began as a movement of “homosexual thugs.” AFA is noted for leading boycotts against companies who support LGBT rights, and for petitioning against openly gay political candidates.

Aides representing other governors, including Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, have told the Texas Independent they cannot attend due to scheduling conflicts.

To date, Florida Gov. Rick Scott may be the only governor besides Perry to show up at the rally, and even he will not be there in person.

Scott plans to get involved from afar — delivering a two to three minute videotaped message, the Palm Beach Post and Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog recently reported.

Opposition in Texas continues to intensify, with counter protests already forming. TheACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are hosting an alternate rally on Friday, the day before the event.

Speakers include Rev. William Lawson, founding Pastor of the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church; Rev. Barry Lynn, the AU’s executive director; Mini Timmaraju, president of the Indo-American Political Action Committee for Greater Houston and representatives from the Muslim and Jewish communities.

“There are a lot of people in this state that are outraged that our governor would attend an event hosted by a group that blames gays and lesbians for the Holocaust and for Hurricane Katrina,” said Kansas Equality Coalition Chairman Thomas Witt in a phone interview. “The AFA’s mission is to smear and vilify the LGBT community, we do not think it’s appropriate for our governor to go to something like this.”

AFA is classified as an ‘anti-gay’ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, for its inflammatory views targeting the LGBT community. With a stated goal of combating the “homosexual agenda,” AFA has made attacking the LGBT “lifestyle” a hallmark issue and lobbies to oppose gay and lesbian involvement through consumer boycotts and petitions.

AFA president Tim Wildmon has called homosexual behavior “immoral, unnatural and unhealthy,” while Bryan Fischer, director of policy analysis, routinely takes aim at the LGBT community in his blog, likening the “risks” and “dangers” of homosexuality to drug use, as the Texas Independent previously reported. In January, Fischer said Nazism began as a movement of “homosexual thugs.”

In late June, the Kansas Equality Coalition organized a protest outside the statehouse in Topeka. Several of the activists showed up at Brownback’s office with a letter, saying that his participation in the Houston rally “condones a view that relegates us to being less than second-class citizens,” the AP reported.

Brownback and his spokesperson did not (and still have yet to) respond to the request. The group plans to rally again at the statehouse on Aug. 6 — the day of the prayer summit in Houston — sending a message to their elected official that his alignment with AFA is unacceptable. A growing number of organizations are coordinating with the group to show their disproval as well.

Given Brownback’s record of opposing gay marriage, and his strong support from evangelical Christians, Witt says his failure to respond to the coalition is not necessarily surprising, but still “incredibly disturbing.” Brownback remains the only governor who has responded ‘yes’ to an invitation from Perry, sent to all 49 other state leaders.

The Texas Independent has reported on the local, state and national condemnation surrounding the event, and Perry’s affiliation with the American Family Association.

Perry, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, sent out invitations to all 49 other state leaders for the Aug. 6 event at Reliant Stadium. As the Texas Independent reported earlier this week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and (according to Politico) Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels won’t be at the stadium this August, either due to scheduling conflicts or unspecified reasons, while Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi has yet to finalize his August schedule. In addition, another four Republican Governors have recently made clear they cannot attend.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin will not be joining Perry and the prayer crowd due to previous scheduling engagements, said spokesperson Aaron Cooper, adding that the governor remains supportive of such efforts. In May, Fallin keynoted a prayer event coordinated by the Oklahoma City National Day of Prayer Task Force, a coalition of pro-life and ‘pro-family’ groups in her state. The same goes for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who will not be heading to this event in August for the similar reasons. Press Secretary Sara Wurfel says the governor is intensely focusing on “turning around Michigan’s economy,” and can’t take part, pointing instead to Snyder’s May proclamation calling for a “Michigan Day of Prayer.”

Aides from the offices of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said those state leaders are not permitted to attend due to previous engagements. Meanwhile, governors John Kasich of Ohio and Bob McDonnell of Virginia are still working through their agenda commitments, leaving the decision up to a later date, say staff press secretaries. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is the only governor thus far to accept his invitation to the all-day prayer and fasting rally dubbed “The Response,” a “non-political” Christian-based event.

The bill, which originated in the state House of Representatives, passed the Senate in a 24-15 vote last night. It now goes to the desk of Gov. Sam Brownback (R), one of the most outspoken abortion opponents in the country. Several Senate Republicans crossed party lines to voice their objections to the bill, on the basis that it would create unnecessary expenses and that it would single out abortion clinics at the expense of ensuring safety at mainstream surgical clinics.

The inspection bill is only the latest volley from Kansas Republicans to legislate the Roe v. Wade decision out of effect in the state. As The American Independent’s Sofia Resnick has reported, Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget includes a provision to defund Kansas Planned Parenthood operations. The overwhelmingly Republican Kansas state Legislature will likely provide little opposition to Brownback’s anti-Planned Parenthood clause.

Both the new bill and the budget provision join legislation that Brownback signed earlier this month. Two laws, set to go into effect July 1, will ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on controversial claims about “fetal pain,” and will require any minor seeking an abortion to get a parental consent form signed and notarized before proceeding with a procedure. Kansas already has a parental consent law on the books; the new law is different primarily in that it requires the involvement of a notary public.

Reid claims his caucus is behind him on the act, which would give some undocumented students and military service members a change to gain legal status to remain in the country. “We all support the DREAM Act,” he said on Univision in an interview that aired Sunday. “I just need a handful of Republicans to help me.”

Kirk has said he wouldn’t, despite exhaustive efforts by DREAM Act supporters to convince him otherwise. “This is not the time to do that,” Kirk said in a debate.

How important is Kirk’s vote for passing the DREAM Act? It depends on who Reid means when he says “we all support the DREAM Act.” There are 59 senators who caucus with the Democrats and 41 Republicans. Kirk will change those numbers to 58 and 42. Reid needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster if he hopes to pass the DREAM Act.

If Reid’s right about his caucus, he would only need two Republicans to vote “yes” on the DREAM Act. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) co-sponsored the bill and would almost certainly vote for the it as a standalone measure, although he voted in September to filibuster the defense authorization bill that included it. Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) has also said he would vote for the act as a standalone bill.

But if either of them or any Democrats fall through, other Republicans are tougher to pin down. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who was one of the original sponsors of the DREAM Act, seems likely to vote against it now because he favors a borders-first approach to tackling immigration problems. “The American people want the government to secure our borders, create jobs and reduce the deficit.” Hatch said when he announced plans to vote against the DREAM Act’s inclusion in the defense authorization bill.

Lugar, Hatch and Bennett were two of twelve Republicans who voted for the DREAM Act in 2007. The others still in Senate — Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — have been vague about whether they would support the measure as a standalone this year.

When the bill came up as a possible addition to the defense authorization bill, a few Democrats said they were not sure they would support it this time around. Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) told The Hill in September they might vote “no” on the DREAM Act.

Well, I think I’ve been willing to compromise in the past and I’m going to be willing to compromise going forward on a whole range of issues.  Let me give you an example — the issue of energy that I just mentioned. I think there are a lot of Republicans that ran against the energy bill that passed in the House last year. And so it’s doubtful that you could get the votes to pass that through the House this year or next year or the year after.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t agreement that we should have a better energy policy. And so let’s find those areas where we can agree.

Obama specifically mentioned a number of broad issues where he believes Democrats and Republicans can find consensus, including expanding the use of natural gas resources, incentivizing electric vehicles and developing a more robust nuclear power industry.

Obama continued:

Let’s go ahead and start making some progress on the things that we do agree on, and we can continue to have a strong and healthy debate about those areas where we don’t.

In that spirit, I thought I’d outline some of the policy proposals that could get bipartisan support in Congress.

At a press conference with environmentalists today, I asked Anna Aurilio, director of the Washington office of Environment America, what she thought could pass next Congress. She mentioned a renewable energy standard, which would require a certain percentage of the country’s electricity to come from renewable sources like wind and solar. Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) introduced an RES in late September. The bill gained a number of Republican co-sponsors, and proponents are convinced it can pass the Senate.

But Republican gains in the Senate could mean a renewed push to add nuclear power and so-called clean coal into the mix. Aurilio said that environmentalists are “concerned” about that potential scenario and stressed that coal and nuclear are outside the bounds of an RES.

Other possible bipartisan proposals include the Homestar bill, which would give consumers incentives to make their homes more efficient; a proposal on appliance efficiency; a bill to extend a Treasury grant program for renewables; and a bill to establish a land and water conservation fund.

Asked about the oil spill response bill — which was passed by the House, but was never passed in the Senate — Aurilio said simply, “It needs to happen.” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski, asked by TWI about the oil spill response bill, said, “It should have already passed,” and acknowledged that it will be difficult to pass such a bill in the lame-duck session. While the prospects for passage in the next Congress are also unclear, Karpinski said the results of the national oil spill commission’s investigation may provide an incentive to move the bill forward.

For more on energy bills that could pass next Congress, see this piece by Dan Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Is it true? It doesn’t matter, Kansas State University political science professor Joe Aistrup told the Kansas City Star last week. “Kobach has caught the wave of the immigration debate,” he said. “It matters little whether his claims about voter fraud are true. Connect anything to illegal immigration in this climate, it’s going to have traction.”

For Kobach, especially, it’s a strategy that makes sense. Kobach is known around the country as the man who helped write Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law, and he has assisted other states to draft anti-illegal immigration legislation. He is now working with Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce to write legislation denying birthright citizenship to children born to illegal immigrant parents. Kobach’s critics argue his anti-illegal immigration work could distract from official secretary of state duties — he said it is only a hobby and likened himself to another candidate who plays the banjo — but his decision to fight illegal immigrant voter fraud is a perfect way to blend his pet project with a secretary of state priority.

If elected, Kobach wants to require proof of citizenship at the polls, and received backing for his plan from Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), who is almost certain to be elected governor next month.

In Colorado, Republican state Rep. Ted Harvey told me last week he plans to introduce similar legislation for voter registration after 12,000 registered voters in the state failed to check a box affirming they were U.S. citizens. This may not have been because they were not citizens, but Harvey said illegal immigrants could easily register to vote because they do not have to show a birth certificate or passport.

It’s tough to say with certainty that this does not happen. But even for legal immigrants, there can be harsh penalties for registering to vote as a non-citizen. A 1996 law made it illegal for non-citizens to claim citizenship, meaning even those with green cards can face deportation for registering to vote. There is anecdotal evidence that this happens each election to a number of legal immigrants who don’t realize they aren’t allowed to vote.

On the lame-duck session, Pierce said: “It can either all collapse and they’re in and out of here very quickly based on the political paralysis or there are a few things that have a glimmer, a glow of life left.”

Pierce said the renewable energy standard proposed by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) has a chance of passing, though she notes that the introduction of a competing bill that would expand the mandate to include nuclear and coal with carbon capture and storage technology could pose a problem for the fate of the Bingaman bill.

Of the competing bill, authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Pierce said:

Once Graham raised that specter, it offered a bit of a way out for people who were sort of on the fence like a Landieu or a Nelson who we probably could have gotten on a stand-alone bill.

Graham’s “clean energy standard” is a potential threat to the support that Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) have garnered for their renewable energy standard legislation, which would require that a certain percentage of the country’s electricity come only from renewable sources like solar and wind. Republicans have long called for including nuclear and coal with CCS in the standard, but environmentalists and many liberal Democrats have bristled at the idea.

A summary of Graham’s proposal from his office says that the Bingaman-Brownback bill  ”short changes nuclear power.” Graham’s proposal, the summary says, will “lead to a renaissance in nuclear power.”

Graham continues:

When it comes to clean energy I have an ‘all of the above’ approach.  I believe the CES I have introduced will reinvigorate our nation’s nuclear energy sector, create jobs, make us more energy independent, and produce a cleaner environment than other standards which have been discussed.

The standard can also be met through increased energy efficiency and retiring old coal-fired power plants. Wind, solar and ocean energy, like in the RES, are also eligible.

The proposal would require that 13 percent of the country’s electricity come from the sources by 2013 and 20 percent by 2020, ratcheting up by five percent every five years.

Which Republicans may come around? In 2007, 12 Republicans voted for the DREAM Act’s passage. Only seven are still in the Senate, and they all voted to filibuster the defense authorization bill last week. While some objected to the bill being inserted into the defense bill, others seem more likely to now oppose the DREAM Act in general — meaning passage as a standalone is far from a sure thing.

Utah Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are in the “secure the borders first” camp, arguing immigration reform must be preceded by stricter enforcement efforts. “The American people want the government to secure our borders, create jobs and reduce the deficit.” Hatch said to explain his “no” vote on the DREAM Act.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) may also be tough to sway. He is running for Kansas governor and has said he opposes “amnesty” for illegal immigrants even though he supported paths to legal status such as the DREAM Act in the past.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Texas) focused her criticism of the defense authorization bill on the inclusion of non-defense items in the bill. (The DREAM Act would have an impact on the military and would likely ease recruitment.)

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe could be more likely to vote for the DREAM Act as a standalone bill. Collins said she joined the filibuster because Majority Leader Harry Reid unfairly limited Republican amendments to the defense authorization bill, not because she opposed the substance of his planned amendments. Snowe also stayed quiet on the DREAM Act when discussing her decision to filibuster.

Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) seems like a likely “yes” vote for the DREAM Act if it is pushed as a standalone bill. Lugar is a co-sponsor of the bill in its current iteration and has indicated he would support the bill’s passage this year.