April 09, 2007
2008 Candidates Lacking in Military Credentials
What a difference an election makes. Back in 2004, casual observers might have figured that having a military background, especially combat experience, was high on the list of must-haves for presidential candidates. This time around, military experience is optional.
Of the current Democratic front-runners, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), 45, was too young to have been drafted during the Vietnam War. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, 53, had a draft number that was never called. And, Sen. Hillary Clinton, 59, like most women her age, would not have been expected to serve. Women weren't subject to the draft.
Among the other candidates in the Democratic race, Sen. Chris Dodd, 62, of Connecticut, served in the Army Reserve from 1969 to 1975. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico received student and medical classifications that probably spared him from service in Vietnam, including one for a deviated septum. Richardson had a draft lottery number of 131 in 1970, a year when men with numbers as high as 195 were called.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, 64, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, 60, also had medical conditions that kept them from serving in Vietnam.
Among the leading Republican candidates, only McCain, 70, has a military record. The Arizona senator spent more than 20 years in the Navy, almost a quarter of it in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.
Draft deferments kept Giuliani, 62, of out Vietnam while he attended law school. In 1968, as the Vietnam War was escalating, he was classified 1-A, or draft eligible. After going to work for a federal judge, he received an occupational deferment. He was classified 1-A again in 1970, but had a high lottery number.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 60, received a draft deferment while serving as a Mormon missionary in France during the war. He was eligible for the draft later, but was not selected. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), 50, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 51, came of age after the draft ended in 1973. Neither has military experience.
Another Republican, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, received student deferments. He was available for service in 1969, but was reclassified in 1970 because of stress-related anxiety.
On the other hand, longshot GOP hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter, 58, who describes himself as "the national security candidate," was an Army paratrooper and Ranger in the Vietnam War and has a personal connection to the Iraq war. His son, a Marine, has completed two tours of duty there.
The fact that President Bush "only" served in the National Guard was such a big deal in 2004 that Dan Rather ended up losing his job trying to make the molehill bigger. But these days, it's not a big deal that so many candidates are without military experience.
It should never have been a big deal to begin with. But in 2004, Democrats were so eager to show how tough they are on national security that they nominated John Kerry, whose experiences in Vietnam became the cornerstone of his campaign. Then those experiences came crashing down about his ears with the help of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. But all that water is under the bridge now.
Democrats have left the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John Kennedy far behind. Those Democrats knew how important a strong military and its role in national security are. Now the former '60s college protestors are running the Democrat Party, and they couldn't make their disdain of our military any clearer. The demand of a pullout date in Iraq is the prime example. Just as the premature pullout in Vietnam created a power vacuum, so will a premature pullout in Iraq. And who will pay for it? Not the Democrats, but the Iraqi people, who will be subject to the same kind of slaughter the Vietnamese were. The terrorists have only to stay alive long enough for America to give up. Then they can exercise their prescription of violence and oppression without any worries.
Military experience is not necessary to be a good president, even in a time of war and its reconstruction. But a healthy respect for our military and the capability of seeing the big picture are. And this is where the current crop of Democrat candidates fall short.
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What about Congressman Ron Paul?
Posted by: J Aron at April 9, 2007 10:31 AMANTI-AMERICA/ANTI-ISRAEL/ANTI-SEMITIC HATE GROUP IN DETROIT CALLED "ANTI-RACIST ACTION (ARA)": LGF ARTICLE ABOUT ARA'S ANTI-PEACE RALLY TWO WEEKS AGO:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25002_A_Hatefest_at_Wayne_State&only
VIDEO OF ARAS ANTI-SEMITIC HATEFEST:
Part I:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqbfZqX7LWU
Part II:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxeweTTLqII
Part III:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1BlPhbW5tw
FOX NEWS STORY ON OFFENSIVE ARA RALLY AT WSU:
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2828453&version=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1
LEADERS OF ARA (SHEMON SALAM, AND MIKE STAUNCH) SAYING THEY WANT ISRAEL OBLITERATED AND DEFENDING THE USE OF THE SWASTIKA AT THEIR RALLY:
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2838924&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1
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