Vets of Iraq, Afghan wars fight to win seats in Congress

By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 4, 2008

Moments after Army Lt. Col. William Russell ended his 28-year military career, the Iraq war veteran revved up his Harley-Davidson and set out on an improbable journey.

In his first political outing, Russell is trying to topple a political giant.

The 45-year-old Republican this weekend kicked off his campaign against U.S. Rep. John Murtha, 76, of Johnstown, a powerful Democrat and decorated Vietnam War veteran seeking a 19th term.

“Murtha has a lot of issues on his hands, in terms of keeping his seat this November. There are chinks in the armor,” contended Russell, who rode a motorcycle to greet supporters at a rally in Uniontown. The event at 12:01 a.m. Friday marked the start of Russell’s civilian life and the end of military restrictions on his campaign.

The battle of the veterans in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District reflects a surge nationally of vets returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and running for seats in Congress this year.

More than twice as many veterans of these wars are running for Congress as in 2006. They are about evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and they tend to take their respective party’s position regarding the Iraq war.

At a time when public opinion supports withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Democrats believe the strength of that issue could help them increase their 37-seat majority in the House. Republicans, citing recent successes in Iraq, hope to reverse their losses by reviving public concern about national security, a winning issue for the GOP in elections before 2006.

“Party officials are seeking out veterans to run as a way of validating a position,” said Peter D. Feaver, a Duke University political science professor and co-author of “Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force.”

Democrats fielded about a dozen Iraq vets as congressional contenders two years ago. Only one was elected, but their chorus of calls for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq suggested all returning soldiers held that position, which prompted the GOP to recruit veterans with an opposing view this year, Feaver said.

“In 2008, what you are partly seeing is the continuing fruits of the Democratic effort matched by Republicans seeking to counter it,” Feaver said. “All veterans don’t think alike, obviously.”

At least 26 candidates in races from California and Colorado to New Jersey and Florida hope to swell the ranks of veterans in an institution where the number of members with military experience has declined sharply for more than a decade.

“I’m looking forward to some of my battle buddies to join me here in Congress,” said Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat from the Philadelphia suburbs and the lone Iraq war veteran in Congress. “I think they will have a unique perspective on war, on terror, but also on what it means to take care of our troops.”

Murphy, 34, who served in Iraq in 2003-04 as a captain in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, was elected in 2006 while calling for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq along a structured timeline. His position hasn’t changed.

“We need the Iraqi government to stand up and be held accountable. They continue to rely on American forces to do their heavy lifting. Our troops did everything they were asked to do,” Murphy said.

Tom Manion, Murphy’s Republican opponent for the 8th Congressional District post, disagrees. Manion is a Marine veteran whose son Travis was killed by sniper fire in Iraq last year.

“There are discussions about withdrawal but nobody wants to talk about the consequences,” said Manion, 54, of Doylestown, a Philadelphia suburb. “Even though we have been successful, there are those in leadership in Washington that don’t seem to get it. We need to keep that momentum going for the best interest of our country.”

Russell, the Republican trying to oust Murtha, opposes a timeline for withdrawal.

“The enemy will just wait out a timeline,” Russell said.

Russell said he adopted Johnstown as his residence about a year ago because he and his wife consider Pennsylvania a good place to live. He said the decision was not because he wanted to run against Murtha.

But he added that his decision to run “was very much driven” by Murtha’s comment in 2006 that a Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha would show Marines “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”

Russell chided Murtha for not apologizing for the remark although seven of the eight Marines charged in the killings, including one who lives in the district, have been cleared and “fully exonerated.”

“When it comes to supporting our troops and their families, Congressman Murtha takes a back-seat to no one,” responded Murtha spokesman Matthew Mozonkey. “His distinguished 37-year career in the Marine Corps is well documented, and his 35 years in Congress is well known.

“You could write an entire book on what he has done for our military,” Mozonkey said.

In other races, Iraq veterans are running for several open seats:

Eastern Ohio: Democratic state Sen. John Boccieri, an Air Force major who flew C-130 cargo planes in Iraq and Afghanistan during four tours, faces Republican state Sen. Kirk Schuring. The closely watched contest is to replace longtime GOP Congressman Ralph Regula, who is retiring from a seat held by Republicans since 1950.

Maine: Republican Charlie Summers, a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve whose wife campaigned for him while he finished a tour in Iraq, is up against Democrat Chellie Pingree. The race is to replace Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who is running for the Senate.

Minneapolis suburbs: Iraq veteran Ashwin Madia, an attorney and former Marine, is the Democratic nominee trying to snag a Republican seat held by retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad. Madia faces GOP state Rep. Erik Paulsen, a former Ramstad aide.

Buffalo area: With Republican Tom Reynolds retiring in New York’s 26th Congressional District, endorsed Democratic candidate Jon Powers, an Army platoon leader in Iraq, is attempting to take that seat from the GOP. If Powers wins the nomination Sept. 9, he likely will face Republican businessman Christopher Lee. Former Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia, who wrote a memoir about fighting in Fallujah, was seeking the Republican nomination before dropping out in May, leaving multimillionaire Lee as the lone Republican.