Sam Brownback Creating New Confirmation Trouble

Bob Novak reports on a new confirmation problem for the Bush Administration, this time coming from an unusual source (h/t RealClearPolitics):

On top of confirmation fights waged by liberal Democrats, President Bush now faces trouble from a potential conservative Republican presidential candidate.
Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas has quietly put a hold on Bush's nomination of Julie Finley to be U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) because of her fervent support for abortion rights. Finley has been a major contributor to Bush and is a longtime Republican leader in the District of Columbia.

The White House contends that Finley's proposed diplomatic post has nothing to do with abortion. Brownback argues that the OSCE, a European multilateral organization, often gets into women's issues, including abortion, and that the U.S. representative there often pulls the organization away from radical initiatives. It is supposed to police human rights standards established by the 1975 Helsinki Accords.

Brownback is one of many Republicans considering a run for President in 2008. I'm sure he's sincere in his anti-abortion beliefs (as am I), but I wonder if there's a little politics going on with his decision to place this nominee on hold? Any Republican who wants to win in the primaries will have to appeal to the religious right (which is why McCain doesn't have a prayer, so to speak), and this might just be a win-win for Brownback.