I'm encouraged and gratified to see our veterans become Dem candidates

[bigtree]

Major Duckworth is among a growing number of Iraq war vets who are entering politics

{snips}

Maj. Tammy Duckworth left her right leg in the cockpit of a Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting. The left one at Walter Reed Hospital where surgeons were forced to amputate it.

Since President Bush declared "mission accomplished" while wearing his borrowed flight jacket aboard a carrier parked safely away from bombs and those who throw them, 36 American military women have given the ultimate -- their lives -- and more than 270 have been wounded.

And what do these women, who have given more to their country than the man who sent them to war ever has in his entire charmed and pampered life, do once they return home?

Run for public office. Duckworth has formally announced her candidacy for the congressional seat of retiring Illinois Republican Rep. Henry Hyde.

She is one of about a half dozen Iraq war veterans running for office as Democrats, lending their military backgrounds to the party's argument that it can be strong on defense and national security, even as its leaders criticize President Bush's handling of the war.

Duckworth is squaring-off against Democratic opponents in the March primary, and if she wins, will face an uphill battle in the 6th District, in Chicago's western suburbs. The ultra-conservative Hyde represented the area for 32 years. State Sen. Peter Roskam is the only Republican candidate for his seat.

http://www.silive.com/columnists/lacy/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1137180604202291.xml&coll=1&thispage=1


http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/

Major Tammy Duckworth - Someone You Should Know
http://www.ngb.army.mil/news/story.asp?id=1391

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I hope she wins

I'll be watching her campaign closely. Hope the repuke running against her doesn't diss her service.

[BOSSHOG]

2. I cannot imagine a veteran,

especially a war zone veteran being anything but a democrat (or certainly a non-republican.) For the past 40 years, the republican party has done zero to deserve the loyalty of any man or woman who served in uniform. There are the exceptions to that, just as there exists a free republic so those with no concept of constitutional liberty can act brave on a daily basis; however any rational citizen who raised there right hand and solemnly swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic could not possibly affiliate themselves with the party of g w b.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Isn't there one who is a republican?