Vets and Elections

Folks, I cannot make this up. Just four days ago I addressed the fact that 55 veterans were running for Congress this November as Democrats. I said they ALL (yes, even the other, apparently misguided, 40 veterans that were running as Republicans) should be treated with dignity and respect. I said ALL of them, if they had something to say, should be heard. I said that if the Boston Globe mistreated anyone of them, I'd let you know. Well, so far the Boston Globe has not (it's only been four days, afterall), but the machinery of the Democratic Party has! I post here the AP story that hit the news wires today . . . Google it yourself to verify not a word has been altered:

(AP, February 14, 2006) Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, a Bush administration critic who had been recruited by top Democrats to run for U.S. Senate, said Tuesday he was reluctantly dropping his campaign and declared his political career over.

Hackett said he was pressured by party leaders to drop out of the Senate primary and run for the House against Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt instead.

National Democratic leaders, especially Sen. Charles Schumer, added to that pressure by telling his top fundraisers to stop sending money, Hackett said. "My donor base and host base on both coasts was contacted by elected officials and asked to stop giving," Hackett told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The original promise to me from Schumer was that I would have no financial concerns. It went from that to Senator Schumer actually working against my ability to raise money."

Schumer, a New York Democrat who heads the party's Senate campaign committee, was not immediately available for comment. But committee spokesman Phil Singer said neither the campaign committee nor Schumer "reached out to donors to ask them to take sides in this race."

Singer praised Hackett for making a "statesman-like decision" that would help the party in an important race.

The deadline for candidates to file for the May 2 primary is Thursday.

Hackett, a Cincinnati attorney and Marine Reservist, captured national attention last summer by blasting Bush's war policies, raising huge sums on the Internet and capturing 48 percent of the vote in one of the country's most conservative House districts. Republican Jean Schmidt won the special election in a tight race.

Hackett had declared his candidacy for Republican Mike DeWine's Senate seat after it appeared Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown would not run.

A few days afterward, Brown announced that he would run, and national Democrats privately began urging Hackett to step aside for the more seasoned politician.

Democrats also considered Schmidt vulnerable in a rematch against Hackett. She was widely criticized for saying in a speech about a troop pullout recommendation by Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran: "Cowards cut and run, Marines never do."

But Hackett said he had promised three Democrats running in the district that he would not run. "I couldn't sleep with myself if I did to them what was done to me," he said. "At the end of the day, my word is my bond and I will take it to my grave," he said. "Thus ends my 11-month political career."

Hackett said he still supports the party's effort to unseat DeWine. "Whatever personal emotions I have about Sherrod, if he asks me to help in some way, and I can help and it doesn't interfere with my own life, I will do the best to help him," Hackett said.

Party leaders had been urging Hackett to switch to the House race since Brown jumped in, and on Sunday, some national Democrats made those requests public. "If he stays in the Senate race, I'm with Paul Hackett, but this is about the House race and giving us another member of the Democratic caucus," said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also urged Hackett on Sunday to run for Congress instead.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said Hackett still has the popular support to have an impact. "It is my hope that whatever disappointment he might feel about these circumstances, that he will seize a different moment in the future," Redfern said. (End of AP story.)

I'll let the readers decide for themselves if the February 8 gathering of 55 congressional Democrat candidates, all veterans, on the steps of the Capitol was nothing more than a photo op.

I think Major Paul Hackett (USMC, ret.) should be heard; the national Democrats do not.

With this post I'd also like to note that I did make a factual error in my February 10 post. Yes, there are 95, oops!, 94 veterans running for Congress in November but they are not all War in Iraq veterans as I mistakenly wrote. The 94 covered the time from Vietnam forward.

Lastly, referencing just one word in the AP story above, Ms. Schmidt was not "criticized" for the comment she made, she was "opportunistically demagogued" by Democrats that cannot articulate a coherent position on the war in Iraq. She was "opportunistically demagogued" by Democrats that cannot decide if al Qaeda operatives in this Country deserve protection by our Constitution or not. Ms. Schmidt was "opportunistically demagogued" by Democrats that refused to acknowledge she was quoting a Marine that was serving in Iraq at the time Rep. Jack Murtha was calling for immediate withdrawal of troops (though he later voted against immediate withdrawal).

Going forward, I'll let you know if the Boston Globe or the national Democratic Party mistreats any of the remaining veterans running for Congress in November.

Finally, Happy Valentine's Day to all. Yes, even to the liberal extremists. Maybe Chuck Schumer and Howard Dean wouldn't be so angry if they just got . . . hugged . . . yeah, hugged, every once in a while.