Military Running for Congress

[Guest TheGuest]

Distinguished Baseops community,

Wanted to post a "Get the word out" thread for not only these two individuals, but for anyone in the future who wanted to help Military members running for office. There was that one "Guest for Congress?" (not me) thread from a while back, but that was about that guy in particular. This is intended to be one in general for people running to help spread the word, potentially get advice, and anything else that may help them in their goal to continue to serve our nation, now as an elected official. I think we can all agree that if Congress had more members who wore a uniform at some point, our country would be better off.

I know these two people personally (some of you likely know them, as well) and wanted to help spread the word of their campaigns for Congress this year.

Rick "Cage" Kernea - former Eagle driver, running for the Tennessee 3rd.

https://www.kerneacongress.com/

Brian "Tailgate" Miller - A-10 IP, recently transferred to the Reserves to run for the Arizona 8th.

https://brianmillerforcongress.com/home/

Thanks, guys. And Happy Easter!

[HuggyU2]

Was Mr Kernea a Guardsman or Reservist? If so, where?

[Guest TheGuest]

No, he was AD up until he separated recently. I met him when he was one of my IPs at UPT a couple years ago.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

LTC (Army) Allen West running for Florida 22.

https://allenwestforcongress.com/

[Clayton Bigsby]

Army Guard Captain running for Neil Abercrombie's US Rep seat in Hawaii. Abercrombie is running for Governor...

[lloyd christmas]

Was Mr Kernea a Guardsman or Reservist? If so, where?

There is a picture of him on his website in front of a 58 FS jet, Eglin AFB.

[matmacwc]

Cage was at -38 PIT when I got there, coming from Eglin, hell of a nice guy!

[M2]

Not military, but nine years as an operations officer at CIA and anyone who's served will usually get my vote over some scumbag lawyer or professional politician...

Will Hurd

And he's pro-2nd Amendment!

Of course, I research all the candidates as I have always taken voting very seriously. If more people did, maybe we wouldn't have this assembly of assclowns in Washington that we have now...

[Getzen2]

Mark Kirk is running for Senate from Illinois (the Burris/Obama seat)

Kirk, who holds the rank of Commander, is a Naval Reserve intelligence officer and has served during conflicts with Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia. He recently became the first member of Congress to serve in an imminent danger zone since 1942 when he deployed as a reservist to Afghanistan in December. The U.S. Navy named Kirk “Intelligence Officer of the Year” in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo.

Mark Kirk

[HuggyU2]

No, he was AD up until he separated recently.

According to his bio, he would have graduated UPT NET April 2002. I am under the impression that Active Duty pilots get a 10 year commitment. If so, how did he separate before 2012?

[Whitman]

Quick plug for another AF pilot running for Congress, Adam Kinzinger.

https://www.electadam.com/

[matmacwc]

According to his bio, he would have graduated UPT NET April 2002. I am under the impression that Active Duty pilots get a 10 year commitment. If so, how did he separate before 2012?

Interesting point, if you graduate college after Oct 99 (ROTC at least), and went to pilot training, you received a 10 year commitment. How did you do it Cage?

[C17Driver]

Interesting point, if you graduate college after Oct 99 (ROTC at least), and went to pilot training, you received a 10 year commitment. How did you do it Cage?

He may (should have based on those dates) have fell in the year groups that were offered VSP several years ago.

[nsplayr]

Honest question. I noticed that all the people linked to above happen to be from one particular party which I'm sure most of you also support. Would you consider supporting a veteran running for office if he belonged to the other party? As much as I support veterans in public office, I honestly would have a hard time voting for any of these guys because we don't agree on many of the issues (unless of course their opponent was a total assclown, then maybe.) Thoughts? How do you feel about these candidates?:

Iraq veteran and Army Reserve Captain Cal Cunningham

or

Former Green Beret and Maj. Tommy Sowers

or

Air Force Captain (from a long line of military men) Bill Owens

or

Iraq vet, former enlisted Marine, and Marine Officer Rob Miller

Edited April 4, 2010 by nsplayr

[Clayton Bigsby]

I'll support prior mil politicians regardless of party provided I agree with their personal political platform and that they show a willingness to divert from the party line. But as soon as they end up like Murtha, I'm out.

[matmacwc]

He may (should have based on those dates) have fell in the year groups that were offered VSP several years ago.

Not F-15C guys.

[SuperWSO]

I'll support prior mil politicians regardless of party provided I agree with their personal political platform and that they show a willingness to divert from the party line. But as soon as they end up like Murtha, I'm out.

I know a lot of guys in uniform that I wouldn't trust to watch my house over a long weekend, let alone make decisions about the future of our country. I consider military service a definite plus. All other things being equal, they have a better shot at understanding leadership and have probably been outside the CONUS (seeing the rest of the world tends to open ones eyes). I've voted for Democrats who politically lined up with what I believe (Charlie Stenholm in TX) but the Republicans tend to represent my views more consistently.

[HossHarris]

Honest question. I noticed that all the people linked to above happen to be from one particular party which I'm sure most of you also support. Would you consider supporting a veteran running for office if he belonged to the other party?

I strictly vote along party lines regardless of the issues, facts, candidate, or my own personnal views.

I absolutely never make an informed, independant assessment ... nor do I ever make my own decisions.

Edited April 4, 2010 by HossHarris

[M2]

The current (and longest-serving) governor of Texas is a former C-130 driver (1972-1977)...

He is also very pro-gun, and not only signed Castle Doctrine into law, but also expanded the rights to carry.

Y'know who I'm voting for!

[Learjetter]

How to get out of your 10 yr ADSC?

Don't complete SOS, Don't sign up for Tuition Assistance, don't volunteer for anything, Fail the PT test 6-9 times in a row, don't get promoted to MAJ, lose (or purposefully fail to keep your medical qual), and request an ADSC waiver from SECAF. That's one way...

[Guest Raptor08]

I know a lot of guys in uniform that I wouldn't trust to watch my house over a long weekend, let alone make decisions about the future of our country. I consider military service a definite plus. All other things being equal, they have a better shot at understanding leadership and have probably been outside the CONUS (seeing the rest of the world tends to open ones eyes).

Remember that while someone who completes military training, officer training, pilot training, etc. may have more creditability than your average run-of-the-mill lawyer, serving in the military doesn't guarantee you will be a good politician. It all depends on your ability to convince and persuade people about your stance on issues (or lie about them....)

[HuggyU2]

TheGuest,

If you know these candidates well, can you chime in on how he is off active duty already?

[nsplayr]

I strictly vote along party lines regardless of the issues, facts, candidate, or my own personnal views.

I absolutely never make an informed, independant assessment ... nor do I ever make my own decisions.

Thanks for the input.

I pretty much see it like SuperWSO, it's a big plus to be a veteran and they have a much greater possibility of knowing what it actually means to serve; being a politician is hardly a "public service" for most people. But if they don't agree with me on the big things it's not enough of a plus to vote for them over a regular pol.

One thing I do appreciate is that more conservative families actually encourage their kids to join up which in turn makes more veterans who decide to run for office conservative. Some of those hippies who vote democratic do everything they can to keep their kids out of the military and that's messed up because it's a great way to go for a lot of kids rather they're troubled or just looking to get some education or want to get some hand-on leadership experience or whatever.

Anyways, if it comes down to a veteran who I agree with over joe blow lawyer who I agree with the vet definitely has my support.

[SuperWSO]

It all depends on your ability to convince and persuade people about your stance on issues (or lie about them....)

Thinking about this a little longer, Randy Cunningham would be the poster child for a great military career that was left behind. He didn't bring any lessons learned with him to his second career. John Murtha was mentioned previously and is another example of an anti-military "veteran".

[Vertigo]

John Murtha was mentioned previously and is another example of an anti-military "veteran".

Whoa. Murtha was anything but "anti-military". He did change his mind on Iraq and said some pretty shitty things about the Haditha incident in which he smeared his fellow Marines, but he was not anti-military.

Remeber he fought to keep the funding for the F-22.

DoD Buzz

It was also because of Murtha that the DOD instituted the PDRMA program.

PDRMA credited to Murtha

Secretary of the Army John McHugh remembers Murtha as someone who "cared deeply for our men and women in uniform".

McHugh's statement

It was Murtha’s influence that led Congress to provide a $500 allowance for every month a service member was held on active-duty under stop-loss orders. And it was Murtha who forced the Defense Department come up with a way to provide more time between deployments for Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.

Marine Corps Times

Bash him all you want on his smearing of Marines in Haditha, he deserves that. But you can't label him anti-military when you go back and look at his actual record. He was anything but.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Vertigo