AMERICA
Preparing Vets for
tools to know how to get started,’”
Lynn says. “I want them to feel they
can do it.”
Rigors of Elections
The program gets part of its sup-
port from Princeton University’s
Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs, and vol-
Serving in uniform is one thing. Campaigning for
unteers include students, faculty,
and staff at the New Jersey school.
offi ce is another. A new program is meant to help.
Georgia Republican Rep. Jim
Marshall, a Princeton alumnus and
decorated Vietnam veteran, deliv-
ered a keynote address at a recent
Veterans Campaign event.
Marshall became involved with
the campaign after meeting the
group’s fi rst executive director, who
was part of an Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans group. Marshall says his
experience is that veterans have a
broader view of issues beyond party
labels, which he considers important
in today’s polarized political climate.
“It takes people with a fair amount
of gumption to step up into the
melee and pull us back together,”
he tells Newsmax. “And I think vets
have a pretty good shot at doing that.”
The program has received posi-
tive reviews from about 100 veterans,
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including several current congres-
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UPWARD McCain (left) and Kerry both rose to the Senate. Below: a veterans campaign class. sional candidates. The group has F
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attracted considerable attention from
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people outside the Princeton com-
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serve your country, it’s a pretty good munity who are looking to volunteer
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By John Rossomando S
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indication you are going to put your and suggest candidates.
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country fi rst when you’re in offi ce.” Lynn, who served in the Marine
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HERE WAS A TIME, JUST TWO
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generations ago, when military His group sponsors seminars Corps from 2002 to 2008, says he
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veterans accounted for more to teach veterans how to run for is grateful for the support, especially
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than 75 percent of the members of Congress. The nonpartisan effort given the diffi cult reception many
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Congress. Today, 22 percent have aims to cultivate both Republicans Vietnam veterans faced upon return-
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served their country in uniform. and Democrats to get them to work ing home in the ’60s and ’70s.
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That decline worries Seth Lynn, together for the common good.
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a former Marine who is executive The forum shows participants
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director of the Veterans Campaign, how to lay the groundwork for their
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which encourages veterans to reverse campaigns. It provides informa-
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the trend. Veterans are an underused tion about building an organization,
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group whose experiences make them fi nancing campaigns, working with
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ideally suited for life in Congress, the press, and making it through to E
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Lynn tells Newsmax. the homestretch.
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“They’ve dealt with very stressful “Every veteran who comes to our
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situations,” he says. “They’ve served workshops may not run for offi ce
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in leadership positions. And if you are tomorrow, but they will come away
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|com Veterans rise to the challenge:
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willing to put your life on the line to being able to say, ‘I have the basic
http://www.veteranscampaign.org/
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26 NEWSMAX / NOVEMBER 2009
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