War heroine leads Democrat charge

[cal04]

WHEN Tammy Duckworth’s army helicopter was shot down in Iraq, it took her eight days to regain consciousness. She asked in hospital why her feet hurt, not knowing that her legs had been blown off by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Two years on she looks the picture of health from the waist up and has a wide smile and an engaging laugh. One of her legs is only 2½in long; the other ends at the thigh. As she whirls around the campaign trail in her wheelchair, Duckworth has become a symbol of hope for Democrats in next month’s mid-term elections.

Polls show her just a point behind her Republican opponent, a lawyer, in the battle for Congress. The prosperous outlying suburb of Chicago which Duckworth is contesting, has been die-hard Republican for decades and is reputed to have more churches per square mile than any district in America.

In a normal year Duckworth, 38, would be trounced. Tax cuts, gay marriage, abortion: these would be the issues dominating the campaign. But this election, more than anything, is about the war in Iraq, a subject the wounded pilot says she knows “a little something about”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2415686,00.html
Tomorrow Bill Clinton is to fly in for a fundraiser.

[ovidsen]

1. She cracks me up!

Duckworth's got a great attitude and a wonderful sense of humor!

So far Duckworth’s personal life seems beyond reproach. The worst she can say about her much-appreciated husband is: “He annoys me. I annoy him. He chews gum with his mouth open. I leave my legs lying around the floor.”

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Vidar]

2. Bravo Tammy.

[Paladin]

3. She's Being Trashed By Our Own DU Gun Activists......

....for daring to say something negative about assault-style weapons in her urban district. See the open thread down in the Gun Dungeon, asking whether she's "shooting democrats in the foot"---and marvel at the use of such a statement, given Duckworth's lost limbs. Real class acts, our guncentric "Democrats." But it's deep in the campaign season, so it's only going to get worse....