Please read this David Broder column, Quiet Calls for Change, from today's Washington Post. It gave me chills.MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Over many years of covering campaigns in New Hampshire, I've lost track of the number of times I've attended political events in the basement meeting room of the Manchester public library, which makes itself available to all candidates and parties. Never have I been to a quieter rally than the one I happened upon Monday afternoon.
Former senator Max Cleland of Georgia, the man who nominated John Kerry for president in Boston this summer, played host to three young people concerned about the Iraq war -- two veterans of the fighting and the wife of a soldier currently deployed -- along with perhaps 50 middle-aged and elderly voters and seven TV cameras. For most of the hour, you could have heard a pin drop...
...Scott Lewis, an Army Reserve sergeant home after 15 months in Iraq, spoke just a few words. "We need some new ideas in Iraq," he said. "People criticize John Kerry for changing his mind about Iraq, but I think that's actually a strength. And I'm a Republican."
Doug Madory, a recently discharged Air Force captain, was the last. He spent four months in Iraq, but most of his deployment was spent in Italy. He spoke of the way Italians embraced American servicemen in brotherhood after Sept. 11 and said, "President Bush squandered a good deal of that support all through Europe by rushing headlong into Iraq. George Bush should be held accountable. . . . People around the world are with us, but are not with George Bush."
That was it. I have no idea what it means in the larger scheme of things, but Cleland said he has been struck by the slow trickle of Iraq war vets now volunteering to speak out. "It is hard for them to do this in public," he said. "Americans obey their commander in chief and do their duty. But then they speak their minds -- just like John Kerry did 35 years ago."
The serious mood was broken by Sam Poulton, who rose in the second row, wearing a VFW cap, to poke fun at himself. He turned to face the audience and cameras. "I want you to look at this face," he said. "I'm 56 years old, a proud reservist. I was ordered back to Iraq. It's something when my son and I are both deployed. I went to war for George W. Bush; I came home to vote for John Kerry."
Please go read the column. And if you appreciate it as much as I did, drop Mr. Broder a line to let him know. Maybe it will encourage him to write more such thoughtful pieces.
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