It’s Not the War, Stupid: Military and Veterans Issues Noticeably Absent from Midterm Campaigns
October 31st, 2010 | Published in Military News
Written by Joshua Patton,
On Tuesday, it will all stop. No more fliers in your mailbox. No more people with clipboards asking for signatures or your vote. A half-hour of television can be enjoyed without every second commercial being about why a candidate is a terrorist, a socialist, or otherwise bad for America. Still, like most news junkies, I will probably have eyeballs attached to the television to see how it all pans out. I have looked at political news with a mixture of fascination and horror since I was a child. Yet, this year, I haven’t followed any campaign that won’t appear on my own ballot at all. Sure, I’m aware of the spectacles that are happening in Delaware, New York, Arizona, Nevada, et. al. but I haven’t followed them like I did back in 2006 or 2008. So I was surprised to read a piece in the New York Times by Helene Cooper that suggests that the wars, and by extension veterans’ issues and the like, are not topics that either party can discuss and hope to be elected.
For example, in Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak is running against Republican Pat Toomey for Arlen Specter’s seat. Sestak is a veteran, but mentions it only casually and saves most of his airtime for bragging about how he is not the choice candidate of the Democratic establishment. Although in Pennsylvania, and most of the country, Mr. Sestak’s strategy is not without merit. Pennsylvania is a purple state at best and we like our Democrats a little conservative. Still, while he and Mr. Toomey go punch for punch on which one of them created or destroyed more jobs, the issues concerning veterans and military families are not discussed, placed on the back burner with the rest of the business of the nation, such as the entire military budget, until after the election.
The President most recently appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. While always, at heart, a comedy, The Daily Show has morphed from a mere parody of the news into a newsmaker on more than one occasion. During the run-up to the Iraq War, The Daily Show was one of the lone critical voices of both the Bush Administration and the Media during that time. Yet, during this historic (for the show, not so much the nation) interview, neither the President nor Jon Stewart mentioned the war or the soldiers. Lately, the President only seems to mention the war in the context of the troop reduction to 50,000 boots-on-the-ground. Even Republicans seem to be aware that the electorate is, ironically, war-weary and feel that the topic is best left unmentioned in their stump speeches.
This season was just the start of the money-crazed marketing orgies that our political process may become now that Corporations have unlimited reign to monopolize the discussion. Yet, call me naïve, but I don’t think all hope is lost. This year the Legislative Branch thought they could practically ignore veterans and that in light of the current “political climate” in Washington to do so would be okay with the military and veteran community. No matter what happens after Election Day, readers of this site need to make a concerted effort to contact their individual representatives and express the urgency with which these issues need to be addressed. Phone calls and actual letters (like, with an ink signature, a stamp, and everything) are very powerful today. They may even carry more weight than they once did, given the high numbers of e-mails and form letters that constitute the majority of feedback to legislators from their constituents. Vote on Tuesday for whomever you think cares most about the country. Then, once they are elected, make them earn that vote by making sure they know how you feel about the issues that are important to you. Who knows? They might just listen.
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