Sam Brownback's dismal showing in a Republican primary this week, where he carried only 63% of the vote despite being an incumbent governor, gave rise to one of the more creative bits of excuse-making heard in a while: it's Obama's fault. Brownback also trails in some polls against Democrat Paul Davis. BROWNBACK: "I think a big part of it is Barack Obama. That a lot of people are so irritated at what the president is doing, they just, they want somebody to throw a brick." .