How Obama Is Winning Veterans
Colin Powell's announcement on Sunday that he is supporting Barack Obama for President dominated the news, as well as it should. The chattering class appears to regard it a one-off event. But is it?
Far removed from the public glare, Obama has, for some time, been meeting with retired senior officers and other influential veterans and gaining their confidence.* Some, including Powell's longtime chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, are actively campaigning for Obama.
Colin Powell made up his own mind, but the support of veterans backing Obama - Wilkerson included -may have been among the factors that led to Powell's stunning announcement.
Obama began meeting with veterans more than a year ago, before he emerged as the likely Democratic nominee. These were not the typical grip-and-grins of a photo op. The meetings entailed lengthy discussions of substantive issues - not just the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but force structure, military recruitment, health care for wounded veterans and nuclear proliferation. The result: retired senior officers, who were largely nonpolitical or politically inclined to the GOP, began to see that Obama was no ordinary politician, that he was well-versed in international relations, military affairs and a broad range of issues that affect the security of our nation.
Some of those veterans have since stepped forward and taken an active role in the Obama campaign. The most visible manifestation came at the Democratic Convention in August, when 20 generals and admirals appeared together in support for Obama.
I saw it on display in Fairfax, Virginia, this past weekend. Now granted, this is Northern Virginia, which Joe McCain (brother of John) recently declared "communist country." It is also a section of the Commonwealth that McCain aide, Nancy Pfotenhauer, disdained as not part of the "real Virginia."
Yet, Virginia it is, and the "Veterans & Military Families Rally for Obama," which attracted 200-250 people on Saturday, appears emblematic of the inroads Obama is making into a community that had, in the past, been highly resistant to Democratic presidential candidates.
David McGinnis, a retired Army brigadier general and combat infantryman, spoke of meeting Obama for the first time and spending three hours discussing a broad range of military issues. "Here's a man who wanted to learn how to be commander-in-chief and was willing to listen and was willing to be held accountable," he said. "That's what you want in a leader."
McGinnis was also impressed with Obama's efforts on behalf of veterans dealing with mental health issues, substance abuse and homelessness.
James A. Kelley, a retired Army major general, cited Obama's support of greater funding for the Army and increased intelligence assets, both of which McCain opposed. Obama voted for "up-armoring vehicles and personnel gear," Kelley said. "Senator McCain voted against that."
In his final assignment, Deputy Commanding General of the Third Army in the Middle East, Kelley met Obama when the senator visited Kuwait in 200Na5. He recalled Obama's meeting individual soldiers, shooting baskets with them and taking the time to meet them in small groups or one to one. No cameras, no reporters. Obama stayed until the last soldier left.
"I'm not for this war," Obama told Kelley at the time, "but I am for these soldiers. I will support them."
Obama made good on that promise. Disabled American Veterans, a nonpartisan charitable organization that works on behalf of severely wounded veterans, gave John McCain a score of 20 out of a possible 100. Obama earned an 80.
Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel, served as chief of staff when Colin Powell was Secretary of State. In European and Asian capitals, he said, "they do not judge us by our rhetoric anymore. We have failed the international community with our words. They know President Bush lied when he said we do not torture. Waterboarding has been torture since the Spanish Inquisition."
He went on to say: "We've had no leadership for eight years. Think about that. The only leadership we've had is that of Dick Cheney behind the scenes corrupting our Constitution, corrupting everything we believe in and advocating publicly for torture."
Later, in response to a question, Wilkerson added: "The Vice President of the United States not only lied to the American people and to the Congress of the United States, particularly a man named Dick Armey [the Texas Republican who was then the House Majority Leader], but he also lied to the President of the United States. And all of this is going to come out because in our country you can't keep secrets - not for very long. And historians and others are going to find this presidency and this vice-presidency, as I said before, the most unprecedentedly incompetent, secretive and abusive of power in our history."
Paul "Bud" Bucha never rose beyond the rank of Army captain, but he has something few veterans possess: the Congressional Medal of Honor, awarded for his extraordinary courage as a young infantry officer in Vietnam. Bucha later taught at West Point and still teaches young men and women embarking on military careers about character and leadership. (He had recently returned from a visit with cadets at the Air Force Academy, which happens to be my alma mater.)
Bucha said of Obama: "This is a man that understands uniting and honor. He says there is nothing more they must do who serve abroad to come home with honor. There is nothing more that we can add or we can subtract to what they have done. They are already owed their full honor. So, it is wrong to say someone must surrender to allow us to win before they can have honor."
Later on, he added: "The wonderful thing about Barack Obama, he started out with this word, hope. What more gracious, wonderful thing to base a campaign on. Hope. Not destruction of the opposition, but hope."
In previous elections, the GOP seemed to have a lock on the votes of veterans. The remarks I heard in Fairfax suggest that change may be coming. Veterans are looking for more from their politicians than "Support Our Troops" magnets. They want leaders who understand the challenges we face and will not squander the lives of our armed forces on the next neocon wet dream of a cakewalk in some foreign land. They want a president who recognizes, as Obama has, that the nation has a solemn obligation to care for soldiers wounded in battle and to support the families of those who die in service to our country.
Near the end of this event, Larry Wilkerson, a self-described lifelong Republican, who became familiar with the Democratic party when he campaigned for Jim Webb's 2006 Senate race, had this to say: "Let me tell you that I have found a collegiality, a warmth, a compassion, a humanity in your party that I never found in mine."
If Democrats live up to the promises Obama has made to our soldiers, the shift I glimpsed in Fairfax last weekend could ultimately alter the political landscape.
Doing the right thing. What a concept. What a way to drive a spike through the ugly heart of Rovian politics.
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* Go to 33:40 of the video of the event. That's where Brigadier General David McGinnis begins to talk. At 35:02 he starts talking about meeting Obama with 13 other officers early this year. Of that group, 11 of them signed on with Obama. Wilkerson, Kelley and Bucha also talk about meeting with Obama. As noted in the piece, Kelley first met him in 2005.
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Married army couple both serving in Iraq. Go BO/JB win big over JM/SP.
Oh and thank you all for your support. The cards, the care packages brings lots of smiles.
I dont know why Obama or his surrogates dont hit home with more statements about his veteran and military supporters. This speaks to a lot voters who are centrist and middle class.
This is what I thought America always was until I stopped traveling & went home in 1993 to start a business . I've ended up with dead Mother, disabled & misdiagnoses with huge side effects, accidents, injuries, a university losing 25 yeards od my recoreds, then destroys my teeth, gotta take a breath...I can not believe thye oath went from "1st do no Harm", to cover your as*.
If Barack wants this, we are on the same page, I thought Barack said just enough. Not too much, not to little. It's what it's what I'd say when I really intended to do something.
I am a combat decorated Vietnam vet. The final straw for me was McCain's objection to Sen. Webb's effort to extend education benefits to our current service people. Of the various reasons McCain gave, the most telling was that at $5 billion a year, it would cost too much. The cost of a year's worth of education for all those men and women is LESS> than what we are spending every TWO WEEKS in Iraq.
GO OBAMA!!!!!!
Hands down the best piece I've read on Huff Po recently.
I love inside glimpses of what those who have logged time with Obama have to say.
I just walk away my heart bursting with pride.
Thanks for your service to our great country. I am involved with many outside groups, but veterans groups are special to me. I'm going to find a way and time to volunteer with a vet group.
I thank all of you and your families for the sacrifices that you've made. I admire you for your courage under fire and the courage to insure our way of life. Ladies & Gentlemen of the United States Military I salute you. God Bless you and yours, God Bless American!
Obama/Biden 08
USMC veteran, voting for Obama!
US Navy, ,, SEAL Team One,, Viet Nam Vet,,,, Voted,,, Today. Obama/Biden
All the best
Knute Neo-LIB
another navy vet proudly voting for Obama. Mccain's treatment of vets sends a shiver down my spine!!! i want him to walk a day in my shoes--no wait...i'd rather walk a day in his. i've never been able to afford $500 loafers. wonder what they feel like.
And many Veterans and soldiers have already been helped by Obama's efforts, just as many have been harmed by McCain's and none helped. We know he'll support us because he already does, and has all along even after it became popular to condemn the war and unpopular to give the troops our respect and honor and service in return for theirs.
I was there, in Fairfax, that day. Listen to especially to Bud Bucha (MOH) and then, BSF4O, get this to everyone you know.
As one of 7 vets in this generation (three women and four men), with a son in the Middle East, I'll tell you, Obama gets this and gets us, the military and its family.
Obama is worth following. I wouldn't follow McCain around a corner!
USMC
I'm a Air Force veteran and have always supported Senator Obama....h
I live in Oregon, we have a vote by mail system only, so I could have mailed it in but instead I drove to the local county election headquarters and dropped it in the ballot dropoff box there. No one to see me do it or no line to stand in but the proudest vote I have ever cast....(a
I'm a 58 year old female veteran who will be soooo proud to call Senator Obama my President .
Thank you.
Thank you for your service and your vote!
Thank you!
You ROCK! :-)
my stepson,career Army. in Iraq
voting for Obama
Thank him for his vote and service!!!
I'm a vetrean and so is my husband and father. We just voted for Obama here in Florida. I can't describe how I felt. I have also made sure that my friends that I helped register to vote made it to the polls.
I know it looks good, but the work isn't over until the polls close November 4th.
True enough. Everyone must get to the polls.
Congrats! But I am trying to start a movement to get reciepts when we vote, or make copies before we go, & even have our friends video it. I want to stop voter fraud, We would have never has a Bush if we did'nt have voter fraud, and it's happening again.....
The M240G is actually an extremely reliable piece of equipment, it's malfunctioning was most likely user error, poor maintenance (fowling), or it may (least likely) have a damaged extractor. The M249 SAW on the other hand is an abomination and desperately needs to be replaced. It is a consistently unreliable weapon after the first 10,000 rounds, regardless of cleaning and preventive maintenance (extractor wears out quickly). Of course I also support replacing the M16 as the main service rifle preferably with something in 7.62 for NATO compatibility. The 5.56 round is the devil.
Having been an Instructor in the Marine Corps for three years, and having earned every Infantry MOS at the time, my assessment was that their unit seemed somewhat sloppy. This is most likely due to the onset of combat fatigue. Daily attacks with no relief for three months will definitely cause that. Further evidence that the military is stretched very thin, and is suffering equipment breakdown, and more importantly personnel breakdowns.
Bush's Folly is going to be paid for, for a very long time, and these men are going to need a better VA than the Manchurian Candidate would provide. Yet another reason to vote for Obama.
Have any of your superiors passed your information along? Do you have proof of that? Have you sent this information to your Congress People? If not, please do so. The days of Cheney's saying, "So!" will soon be over. In order to take back our military strength, we need changes based on information like yours, not that of a lobbyist of Blackwater representative.
who38 we all need to take it to our Senators and Representatives. We all need to march to an office located near your home and make the VOICE of the PEOPLE heard. Send an editorial to your local paper, speak up in church, water cooler at work, face book, my space, etc. When 50% of the 81% of Americans who want the war over push harder than the war profiteers and the 19% who still believe Georgey Porgey was right are pushing... then it becomes over. All of us need to have our Senators and Reps phone numbers programmed in our phones (I do) and call every day and demand they bring them home! EVERY DAY! Clog their phone lines and emails... BE HEARD DAMN IT!
Powerful and well stated.
Thank you.
my brother-in-law is career military and he suports obama - because he has treated the troops with real respect by fighting for benefits, because he believes that obama is intelligent enough and flexible enough to work with people in america and around the world to solve problems and because he has been outraged by what the bush administration has done to our country and our basic liberties.
he spent a good part of his career in that communist part of northern virginia - at the pentagon.
do the repubs still think palin is more qualified than obama? no didnt think so.
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