Political Attrition Takes Toll on Democrats

According to an article released by the Associated Press on September 27th, the Democratic Veterans are going to have a tougher fight ahead than originally thought. Over the past few months the Democratic Party has boasted that several dozen of the Democratic challengers in the upcoming elections are also veterans. At the time this seemed to be a big thing with sites dedicated solely to the “Fighting Dems.” However, with only six weeks left before the midterm elections are to take place, the impressive number of 50+ Democrats running for Congress has dwindled down to only a few Democratic Veterans actually having a chance to win the seat. The Democrats need to gain 15 GOP seats in the House to win control of congress. So why are there so few Democrats with a military record left? For one many of them lost in the primaries, dropped out, or have fallen far behind their Republican opponents in fundraising. In addition, the Democrats will only give financial backing to those candidates they think have a strong chance at winning. According to Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, “They understand that our party is committed to our men and women in uniform and that our party has a place for them.” But with so few Democratic candidates with a military background left in competitive races only time will tell if this initiative actually will pay off.

SEE http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEMOCRATS_VETERANS?SITE=VTBUR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


-Kiersten