The tactic of taking an ultra-liberal, soft on defense, and inclined toward anti-US positions overseas, but equipped with some sort of military record, draping him in the flag, and trying to run him for office did not work out so well for the democrats in 2004. But nagging insecurities on the Patriotism front (for some reason) seem inevitably to lead our democrat friends to rush to use the alleged war hero as their front man for appeasement and surrender.
Look at John Murtha, whose Marine Corps background was exploited by the democrats to provide patriotic cover for last month’s trial balloon call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
The MSM obligingly portrayed the faithful hack Murtha as “conservative,” “a hawk,” and a previously strong supporter of the War in Iraq, suddenly converted. But in reality, Murtha’s record on intervention in Iraq was strongly negative until a week before Congress voted overwhelmingly in its favor. Some sources believe Murtha’s willingness to take a leading anti-war position may have been motivated by considerations other than conviction.
And they are going back to the military hero well for the coming 2006 Congressional election. They probably had to turn over a lot of rocks, but they did it. They have found thirty odd veterans, able to walk and talk, and not currently in jail or under indictment, who are actually willing to be described as democrats.
More than 30 Iraq and Persian Gulf War veterans have entered congressional races across the country as Democrats, hoping to capitalize on their military experience to topple the incumbent Republican majority.
In Colorado, two former military men, Jay Fawcett and Bill Winter, are vying for the House seats of two strong, entrenched Republicans: Rep. Joel Hefley of the 5th Congressional District and Rep. Tom Tancredo of the 6th Congressional District, respectively.
“Do we understand military and foreign affairs? You bet,” Fawcett said. “Most of us have been to the point where you get a direct dose of military and foreign affairs, mostly in the category of small-caliber weapons. But we understand that that is just one aspect of national policy.”
On Dec. 20, Fawcett and Winter joined 35 Democratic veterans running for Congress at a strategy session in Washington, D.C.
The veterans voted on a name for their emerging caucuslike campaign coalition: Veterans for a Secure America. They also agreed that their military backgrounds should be promoted as credentials for leadership across the full spectrum of public policy…
Fawcett said the group is not anti-war but is concerned about what appears to be a lack of a solid plan for the war in Iraq. He said the group’s military experience could be crucial in providing better leadership.
The first to succumb to visions of inevitable victory, based upon this brilliant strategy, is none other than Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, Kos himself, hailing it as the Fighting Dems phenomenon:
This country craves leadership, and these guys are providing it unbidden. They are self-organizing, taking the initiative, and taking the fight to the enemy. These guys are rock stars.
Unbidden, eh, Kos? I can just imagine how “unbidden” these guys are.
DaveNYC identifies “the Fighting Dems” web-site, titled Band of Brothers. Like John Cole’s leftie pal Tim F, DaveNYC believes there is strength in numbers, which is to say, you get a whole bunch of ultra-lefties with discharge papers out there, and it’s impossible for fellow veterans to debunk (what the left calls: swiftboat) their military and political records. Time will tell.