NY 26 and NY 29: Democrats Tackle War in Iraq

By Rachel Ward

Rochester, NY – Two retired generals joined two veterans-cum-congressional candidates Tuesday for a round table discussion about the war in Iraq.

Democrats Jon Powers and Eric Massa assembled in front of a group of veterans at the Locust Club, along with Major General Paul Eaton and Major General John Batiste. The panel discussion promoted the candidates' plans to win the war in Iraq, and dissected what the participants believe are the failures of the Bush administration to plan for the conflict.

Both candidates are running for seats currently held by Republicans, and are campaigning heavily around those failures.

Powers says he sees low enlistment rates in the armed forces as a sign that Americans haven't been asked by the Republican administration to engage in the war.

"People were willing to step up ... people were ready. They just weren't being asked or led in that direction. And I believe in Congress we need more folks who are willing to go out and have that honest conversation with folks, whether it be on the war, or on the environment."

Both Massa and Powers [see correction below] have signed on with a group of national candidates to a "Responsible Plan," outlining steps to withdraw from Iraq "safely, securely, and soon." In outlining the plan, Massa also used the messaging that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has employed while speaking about Republican candidate John McCain.

"The nice thing about what we're dealing with in politics today is that there's going to be a tremendous exclamation point to start a new chapter. And that's gonna happen in the first week of November, where this nation's gonna be able to make a choice. Are we gonna continue to do more of the same, about the failures that we've heard about, and that we've revisited here today, or are we gonna go in a new direction?"

All four speakers stressed the need to involve every cabinet member in reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. Batiste told the audience that in order to prevent militant Islam from permanently taking hold at the expense of the democracy that the U.S. administration had hoped to foster, every cabinet head, from education to agriculture, needs to be as engaged in the conflict as the State Department.

The round table also served to announce that Eaton, who led efforts to reestablish the Iraqi military during the early stages of the war, is endorsing Powers.

Major General John Batiste, a Republican, wouldn't say who he's endorsing in the 26th congressional district race. He did say he wouldn't rule out endorsing a Democrat.

Powers faces a three-way primary next Tuesday for the seat being vacated by Republican Tom Reynolds, against industrialist Jack Davis and lawyer Alice Kryzan. Christopher Lee is running on the GOP ticket.

Massa is running for the 29th Congressional district seat, currently held by Republican Randy Kuhl. He last ran against Kuhl in 2006.

Read the "Responsible Plan".

CORRECTION 9-04-08: A spokesperson for Jon Powers says that he has not signed onto the "Responsible Plan," saying that "he thinks that's only the first part of the national security reform debate." - Rachel Ward