Veterans usually bring a fresh and common sense attitude to politics. Some are great, like Ike or Tom Cotton today. Some are not so great like George McGovern or Mike Flynn today. But at one time or another, including this analyst, they served their nation in uniform. One former military officer, who lost a tough race against Virginia incumbent Democrat Senator Mark Warner, wants more vets in politics.

FNC: “Fresh off a Senate campaign that fell short to an established Democratic incumbent, retired Lt. Col. Daniel Gade is rebounding with a new PAC aimed at promoting veterans’ issues and conservative candidates – with an immediate eye on the Georgia runoff races.

Close

 

“We’re not stuck on only picking veteran candidates, but we’re stuck on picking conservative candidates who are gonna fight for our values.’ Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are headed for runoff elections with Democratic candidates Jon Ossof and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, respectively. And those seats will determine which party controls the Senate when President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month.”

“I think that they’re clearly better than the leftists that they’re running against…Veterans have a tendency to decide they don’t want to vote. My point to the 640,000 veterans in Georgia is, if you want to keep your country safe again like you did in the past, it’s time to vote. And it’s time to vote for candidates who will fight for your values — and that means, in this case, the Republicans. They tend to be trustworthy, they love America, they are willing to serve, they’re willing to sacrifice, and that’s what we need from our political leaders.”

Gade makes good sense except for one bit of it. It is obvious his mission to bring vets into politics looks more interesting if one can claim vets don’t vote, as he does above. That’s wrong. I’d use another, more military term, but this is a family publication.

What could be helpful to Republicans and conservatives is not so much more vets at the polls, which is always a good thing (in fact, per Robert Heinlein and J.S. Mill vets should get two votes), but more vets involved in the organizational aspects of campaigns.

Vets know alacrity of mission, they understand targeting, they get logistics, they understand the staff process, and most of all politics and combat are really only about one thing: Seizing an objective. In my two decades running campaigns I used my military experience on a constant basis, usually to successful conclusions.

Given many political types talk too much and are afraid of their own shadows, a strong person who can plan a mission, lay it out concisely and clearly to subordinates, and then execute it is a rare commodity in operational politics. This should not be the case, especially for the party that still respects the military.