Gov. Sam Brownback won a compelling victory in 2010 and moved into second-floor offices at the Capitol to begin work with lawmakers holding overwhelming Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

It was shaping up to be a foot-stomping policy hoedown with the GOP.

Conservatives would have their way on the budget, taxes, education, health care and a wish list of reforms held at bay for years by the Democratic administrations of Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson.

"He was untouchable right after the inauguration," said Joan Wagnon, chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party. "People still thought he was a nice guy."

Then, walls of the castle appeared to crumble.

Polling conducted in 2011 by Fort Hays State University and separately for Republican and Democratic operatives, as well as multiple polls by SurveyUSA in early 2012 — remarkable, if accurate — indicated souring of public opinion about Brownback.

In SurveyUSA polls conducted in January, February and again in April, Brownback's job approval rating in Kansas was below that of Democratic President Barack Obama.

That political sentiment helped fuel formation of an organization, Traditional Republicans for Common Sense, comprised of former Kansas officeholders at the state and federal levels. Their central complaint when the group went public last week was that Brownback and allied conservatives in the Legislature were imprudently pressing for income tax reductions while ignoring calls for restoration of previous cuts to K-12 public school districts.

"We have a moral obligation to the citizens of this state," said Rochelle Chronister, a former Kansas House member and one-time chairwoman of the state Republican Party. "If we want to ensure our long-term success, then we cannot mortgage our children's future. Every farmer will tell you that you reap what you sow."

David Kensinger, the governor's chief of staff until stepping down in March to run Brownback's political apparatus, Road Map Solutions, said protests by disenchanted Republicans, as well as similar-minded Democrats, didn’t stand up to facts.

"These are the architects of the lost decade," Kensinger said. "We tried it their way, and Kansas lost private-sector jobs over the last decade while the state went broke. It's time for a new direction."

Movement of the state's Republican Party to the conservative side has resulted in greater electoral success in state and federal elections, he said. The GOP holds all statewide offices and all Kansas seats in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

Kensinger said rising Republican voter registration in Kansas and dearth of filed Democratic challengers to incumbent Republicans in the Kansas House and Senate served as signs Brownback was on solid footing.

The integrity of polls cited by Brownback's critics are suspect due to biased phrasing of questions and limited resources devoted to the endeavors, Kensinger said.

Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, said second-guessing of the SurveyUSA's findings was invalid because the poll was within acceptable standards for assessing public opinion.

He said Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, of Kansas, had touted results of SurveyUSA polling as evidence of support during campaigns. For example, the company's polling correctly predicted Moran would defeat Todd Tiahrt in the hotly contested 2010 GOP primary for the Senate seat vacated by Brownback.

In January 2010, Kansas Republican Party chairwoman Amanda Adkins called then-Gov. Parkinson's 42 percent approval rating in a SurveyUSA poll a profound result delivering a clear message "Kansans oppose the Obama-Pelosi-Parkinson agenda of higher taxes and bigger government."

When Brownback's numbers in a SurveyUSA poll in January 2011 dipped below those of Parkinson, Adkins questioned validity of the company's survey results.

Details of Brownback's agenda as governor — vaguely referenced in terms of a Road Map for Kansas during the 2010 campaign — produced bipartisan unease.

In his first year as the state's chief executive following 14 years in Washington, D.C., the governor signed a bill slicing about $200 million from school districts. It was the largest cut to public education in state history and came on the heels of several years of spending rollbacks tied to the state's economic tailspin. He opened the 2012 session by unveiling a new formula for financing public education that has yet to gain traction.

Brownback also stepped forward in January with a plan to reduce state income tax rates. It generated controversy because it increased taxes on the working poor, sustained indefinitely an elevated statewide sales tax, and eliminated popular tax breaks for charitable contributions and interest paid on mortgages.

He has had trouble selling the package to some Republicans and Democrats who express a preference for property tax relief.

On Friday, Brownback endorsed an alternate $2.9 billion, six-year reduction in state business and income taxes that was a product of negotiations between the House and Senate. It would funnel $180 million in property tax relief to cities and counties.

"It's got the key pro-growth features that I think are important," Brownback said. "Gets the tax off of small business and lowers the overall rates."

The governor's initial focus on income taxes stood in contrast to findings of the Kansas Speaks poll by FHSU's Docking Institute of Public Affairs. In October, the poll indicated 45 percent of Kansans surveyed favored property tax reductions. Thirty-two percent opted for income tax rollbacks, while 30 percent sought sales tax cuts.

The survey of more than 1,000 Kansas adults also showed 58 percent favored tax increases for the state's highest income earners, up from 47 percent in 2010 and 41 percent in 2009.

In January 2011, a SurveyUSA poll conducted for KWCH-TV in Wichita showed Brownback's approval rating stood at 55 percent among people registered to vote. The assessment of his job performance fell 19 percentage points during the subsequent year.

The SurveyUSA poll in February indicated Brownback's approval rating was at 34 percent and Obama's at 42 percent.

The April version of the SurveyUSA assessment, conducted with participation of 510 registered voters, showed the governor's approval rating holding steady at 34 percent and Obama's rising to 43 percent.

"It's interesting that generally when the economy improves poll numbers go up for elected officials," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence. "His (Brownback) numbers don't seem to reflect that trend."

However, Davis said he didn't expect Brownback to alter his approach based on polling made publicly available.

"This governor has an agenda, and he's not going to let bad poll numbers interfere with that," Davis said.