Fighting Dems

The Fighting Dems is a nickname given to more than 60 military veterans who ran for Congress as Democrats in the United States' 2006 congressional elections. Five of these candidates were elected to the House of Representatives and one was elected to the Senate. The term "Fighting Dem" can be applied to all non-incumbent military veterans running for Congress in 2006 as Democrats.

Other generic names have been used. "Mother Jones" refers to the group as "The Capitol Brigade". The Draft Zinni campaign describes them as the "Security Dems" and part of the "Blue Force".

Veterans for a Secure America

On December 20, 2005, a group of Fighting Dems met in Washington, D.C. for a strategy session and voted on a name for their coalition: "Veterans for a Secure America". On February 8, 2006, nearly 40 of them met again in Washington to gather outside of the U.S. Capitol. The event was lead by former Senator Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who with the rest of the veterans chartered the Veterans for a Secure America (VSA).Fact|date=September 2008 To date the VSA is the only organized group of Fighting Dems though not all Fighting Dems are part of the VSA.

Philosophy

On October 1, 2006, Army Major and congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth made the weekly Democratic radio address blasting George W. Bush saying "Instead of a plan or a strategy, we get shallow slogans like 'mission accomplished' and 'stay the course,'" but "Those slogans are calculated to win an election. But they won't help us accomplish our mission in Iraq" [cite news | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061001/ap_on_go_co/democrats_iraq;_ylt=AieqDg7hcwNPQELYEApG_Do8KbIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA-- | title=Candidate-veteran blasts Bush on Iraq | publisher=Associated Press | date=2006-10-01 | first=Dennis | last=Conrad | accessdate = 2006-10-01] She explained that the United States needs "a Congress that will ask the tough questions and work together for solutions rather than attacking the patriotism of those who disagree". Further she said, "It is time to encourage Iraqi leaders to take control of their own country and make the tough choices that will stop the civil war and stabilize the country."

Appearances

A weekly feature on Air America Radio and the DailyKos website called "Fighting Dems" profiles individual candidates. The VSA website also refers to the candidates as a "Band of Brothers", a term referring to the camaraderie of men who serve in combat that was (after decades of use) popularized by the "Band of Brothers" book and HBO miniseries about World War II soldiers in Europe.Fact|date=September 2008 Individually the Fighting Dems appeared on all forms of media as is the norm with candidates for public office.

List of Fighting Dems

House races

Candidates, followed by state abbreviation and district number
* Woodrow Anderson III, AR-03. Primary winner.
*Ted Ankrum, TX-10. Primary winner.
*Dick Auman, IL-16. Primary winner.
*Phil Avillo, PA-19. Primary winner.
*Lee Ballenger, SC-03 [http://www.voteballenger.com/]
*Rick Bolanos, TX-23. Primary winner.
*Bob Bowman, FL-15. Primary winner.
*Jim Brandt, CA-46. Primary winner.
*Charles Brown, CA-04. Primary winner.
*Dave Bruderly, FL-06 Primary winner.
*Duane Burghard MO-09. Primary winner.
*Chris Carney, PA-10. General election winner
*Jack Chagnon, FL-07. [http://www.johnchagnon2006.com/index.php?pr=Home_Page] . Primary winner.
*John Courage, TX-21. Primary winner.
*Jack Davis NY-26. Unopposed Primary [http://warrenreports.tpmcafe.com/blog/trillian/2006/sep/10/super_tuesday_for_fighting_dem_vets_recap_and_overview]
*Dan Dodd, TX-03. Primary winner.
*Andrew Duck, MD-06. Primary winner.
*Tammy Duckworth, IL-06. Primary winner.
*Bill Durston, CA-03. Primary winner.
*Jay Fawcett, CO-05. Primary winner.
*William Griffith, SC-04. Primary winner.
*David Harris, TX-06. Primary winner.
*Tom Hayhurst, IN-03. Primary winner.
*Doctor Robert J. Johnson, NY-23 Unopposed Primary
*John Laesch, IL-14. Primary winner.
*Jim Marcinkowski, MI-08. Primary winner.
*Eric Massa, NY-29 Unopposed Primary
*Patrick Murphy, PA-08. General election winner
*Jim Nelson, GA-01. Primary winner.
*Dave Patlak, FL-18th. Primary winner.
*John Rinaldi, CA-52. Primary winner.
*Joe Roberts, FL-1 [http://www.opensecrets.org/states/election.asp?State=FL] . Primary winner. [http://www.joeroberts.us/]
*Doctor Arjinderpal Sekhon CA-02. Primary winner. [http://www.sekhon4uscongress.com]
*Joe Sestak, PA-07. General election winner.
*Rich Sexton, NJ-03. Primary winner.
*Bob Shamansky, OH-12. Primary winner.
*Richard Siferd, OH-04. Primary winner.
*Dennis Spivack, DE-01. Primary winner.
*Charlie Thompson, TX-05. Primary winner.
*Tim Walz, MN-01 General election winner
*Steve Waterworth IL-18. Primary winner.
*Roger Waun, TX-13. Primary winner.
*Mike Weaver, KY-02. Primary winner.
*Craig Weber, NC-03. Primary winner.
*George D. Weber (MO-02) [http://www.georgedweber.com website] . Primary winner.
*Al Weed, VA-05 See: Virginia U.S. House election, 2006
*Bill Winter, CO-06. Primary winner.

enate races

*Jim Webb, Decorated Vietnam War Combat Veteran , Marine, and former Secretary of the Navy who won the Virginia senate race.
*Jack Carter Navy Vietnam War Veteran ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Nevada. Primary winner.

2006 results

Around 9:20 p.m. on Election Day, Speaker-of-the-House-elect Nancy Pelosi came out and addressed the crowd;

cquote|...

let's hear it for our candidates all across the country -- our fighting Dems, our vets who are running!...All across the board these candidates have excellent credentials, great ideals, and they are, again, fighters for the future. Let's hear it for our candidates!" [http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/11/democrats_exper.html]

The challengers in the House who managed to defeat their incumbents were Chris Carney (PA-10), Patrick Murphy (PA-08), Joe Sestak (PA-07), and Tim Walz (MN-01). Additionally, Phil Hare (IL-17) was elected to succeed fellow Democrat Lane Evans. In the Senate, Jim Webb (VA) was elected.

It also should be noted that the Fighting Dems campaigns forced the RNC to give money to Republicans candidates in district that had not needed outside funding in previous years. Thus even the Fighting Dems who did not win taxed the resources of the Republican party.

ee also

*Veterans for a Secure America
*The Veterans’ Alliance for Security and Democracy

References

External links

* [http://www.democrats.org/page/content/fightingdems/index/ DNC Fighting Dems website]
* [http://www.bandofbrothers2006.org/ Veterans for a Secure America] — main site
* [http://www.fighting-dems.com Fighting-Dems.com]
* [http://www.dailykos.com/tag/Fighting%20Dems Daily Kos articles]
* [http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=442236&category=OPINION&newsdate=1/23/2006 Times-Union story]
* [http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/3800 Securing America]
* [http://vetpac.org/ VetPAC] political action committee
* [http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/02/taking_the_hill.php Taking the Hill] from the Democratic Party
* [http://shows.airamericaradio.com/majorityreport/ Profiles of some "Fighting Dems"] — from the Air America Site
* [http://www.oxfordpress.com/business/content/shared/news/nation/stories/2006/02/VETS_POLS_0209_COX.html Oxford Press (Ohio) article]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12187264/ named on tv]
*http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06182006-672039.html
*http://www.cookpolitical.com/races/house/default.php