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We are called by various names. Air America and the Daily Kos call us the “Fighting Dems”, Mother Jones calls us “The Capitol Brigade” and Draft Zinni dubs us “Security Dems”. I call us the “Band of Brothers” We are the Democrats’ “secret weapons”. We have five core things in common: we are veterans, we are Democrats, we are strong on national security, we believe our nation is headed in the wrong direction -- and we are running for Congress to put America back on course.
We are not, however, all Iraq war veterans. Some of us are veterans of other conflicts such as Vietnam or peacekeeping duty in the Balkans, and some supported our troops in other vital ways. But regardless of how they served our country in uniform, all have progressive to moderate social views Most of us are family men and are running on platforms to support working families, insure fair taxation, protect Social Security, restore American values, and fully fund programs to aid education, the poor and disabled, and to provide equality of opportunity for all Americans and sound environmental policies to safeguard our land.
We also believe that a strong America is one that engages its allies rather than antagonizes them, one that goes after terrorism where it exists rather than invading countries that distract from this mission, and, as military men, we believe that using force to accomplish international objectives should be used only as a truly last resort. Many of us have served in either Iraq in the current conflict or in the first Gulf War, and almost all of us served in the war theater, in intelligence or in security-related positions.
And one more thing. Most of the Fighting Dems come from so-called “Red” districts. But America is not Red and Blue, it is Red, White and Blue and all Americans share the same aspirations and dreams. So this brigade of fighting Democrats is intent on taking Congress back from those who have hijacked our nation, distorted our values, devastated our economy, damaged our nation’s credibility, derailed the middle class, and distracted us from the War on Terror by sending our fathers and sons, mothers and daughters and brothers and sisters to be maimed and to die fighting a war that did not need to be fought.
One thing is certain; there are enough of us to win back the House and put America back on course. Paul Hackett showed it could be done in his close race in Ohio. And even more recently in my district, where I have been helping to build the Democratic Party “from the ground up,” we have had a series of victories. These have included electing Democrats to the office of mayor in Corning and Elmira for the first time in 45 years and 25 years, respectively.
There are many other good Dem candidates who are not veterans, but our Vet Force, with over two dozen Democratic veterans across the nation running for office is the chance we have to reverse a negative trend of recent years. Since 2000, the number of vets in Congress has been diminishing, failing to provide the leadership that had for many years seen strong vets standing up for America in Congress.
Now is the time to turn the tide and chase the Republican chickenhawks out of Congress and replace them with veterans who value our freedom and democracy.* Make America strong by electing those who have fought on the front lines so that they can fight once more on the home front. I stand with the Band of Brothers. We will put America back on course, make America strong and secure, and make America truly the land of the free and the home of the brave.
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