{"id":4921,"date":"2005-08-08T12:56:34","date_gmt":"2005-08-08T16:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/4921.html"},"modified":"2005-08-08T12:56:34","modified_gmt":"2005-08-08T16:56:34","slug":"paul-hackett-may-be-the-first-of-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/paul-hackett-may-be-the-first-of-many\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Hackett may be the first of many"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee admits that it’s thinking slightly outside the box when it comes to recruiting Dem congressional candidates for 2006. It’s been working well — FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley is running in Minnesota’s 2nd CD, Sheriff Brad Ellsworth is poised to run well in Indiana’s 8th CD, and in North Carolina, the DCCC successfully recruiting former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler.<\/p>\n

But after Paul Hackett’s surprisingly strong showing in Ohio last week, Dems seem to have their eyes on one characteristic in particular: military service.<\/p>\n

Roll Call reported<\/a> today that, in addition to Hackett, three other veterans of either the Iraq or Afghanistan campaigns are running for Congress next year — and they’re all Dems.<\/p>\n

Patrick Murphy, an attorney who returned from Baghdad last year, is challenging freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) in the Keystone State’s competitive 8th district. <\/p>\n

David Ashe is seeking a rematch with freshman Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.), who spent almost twice as much as Ashe and beat him by 10 percent last fall.<\/p>\n

Tim Walz, for his part, served in Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now back in Minnesota, the Mankato High School teacher is taking on Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) next year.<\/p>\n

As it happens, Murphy, Ashe and Hackett — a Marine reservist who is now being talked up as a Senate candidate next year — are all lawyers in civilian life. Ashe served six months in Iraq as a legal counsel to coalition forces before leaving active duty in November 2003.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This not only further helps disprove the myth that those in the military are necessarily Republican, it gives Dems a real chance to compete in otherwise conservative districts, where voters are inclined to give a candidate who wore the uniform a serious look, regardless of party.
\n<\/p>\n

Murphy said he thinks Hackett’s performance will make national Democrats take a closer look at seriously challenging other tough districts that might have been overlooked. <\/p>\n

Murphy himself is running in a more competitive district but he believes that his status as a veteran gives him an advantage that other Democratic challengers may lack.<\/p>\n

“Hi, I’m Patrick Murphy. I’m an Iraq war veteran — I served in Baghdad and I’m back home and I’m running for Congress,” is how Murphy introduces himself to potential voters. <\/p>\n

After he gives his speech, which omits the fact that he is a Democrat, “they immediately start clapping,” Murphy said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Granted, there are plenty of voters in Murphy’s district that won’t care for that “D” after his name, but before they even consider partisanship, many of these same voters are drawn to Murphy because of his service.<\/p>\n

I should add that it’s not just veterans from recent wars who are running for Congress as Dems. Eric Massa, a 24-year Navy veteran, cancer-survivor, and former top aide to Wesley Clark, is taking on freshman Rep. Randy Kuhl in New York’s 29th CD. Massa was a Republican who worked on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee, but he resigned and left the party to become a Dem. Now he’s generating support in a competitive New York district against a vulnerable Republican.<\/p>\n

And we’re not<\/a> just talking about a Dem In Name Only.<\/p>\n

I am a Democrat because as a Democrat I can fight to defend the values which have guided me all my life: service, integrity, and accountability.<\/p>\n

I am a Democrat because I believe that access to health care for all Americans is a national security priority.<\/p>\n

I am a Democrat because I know that it is wrong to sell out our working families by sending their jobs overseas with bad trade agreements like CAFTA — it’s wrong, and it’s hurting our nation.<\/p>\n

I am a Democrat because I believe that Social Security is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern America, and we must defend it against risky and destructive privatization schemes.<\/p>\n

I am running for Congress as a Democrat because the working people of the 29th District of New York deserve a Representative who is more than a rubber stamp for the Bush-Rove-DeLay agenda.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds good to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee admits that it’s thinking slightly outside the box when it comes to recruiting Dem congressional candidates for 2006. It’s been working well — FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley is running in Minnesota’s 2nd CD, Sheriff Brad Ellsworth is poised to run well in Indiana’s 8th CD, and in North Carolina, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}