July 11 2007

MARINE LT. COL. (RET.) ANDREW HORNE, IRAQ VETERANS NATIONWIDE SLAM

KENTUCKY'S SEN. McCONNELL FOR VOTE AGAINST MILITARY READINESS

NEW YORK - The largest political group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, VoteVets.org, today slammed Kentucky's U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell for voting against a bipartisan measure offered by U.S. senators Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) that would have helped guarantee American troop readiness. The amendment to the annual defense authorization bill in the Senate, would have guaranteed that our troops received as much time at home as the length of their deployment, and that National Guard and Reserves received three years at home following one-year deployments.

The GOP Senate minority, led by McConnell, held the bipartisan amendment hostage via filibuster, and McConnell voted against breaking the filibuster, thereby disallowing consideration of the amendment on the floor.

"Senator McConnell is a disgrace to those of us in uniform," said Iraq war veteran Andrew Horne, a Kentuckian and senior advisor to VoteVets.org. "The amendment he shot down was pro-troop, pro-military and pro-national security. It would've helped ensure that we ease the burden on our men and women in uniform, at a time when our military is breaking. It would've helped rebuild our forces, which have far too many units that are not combat ready. And it would've allowed us to retain more National Guard units here at home, to deal with the next Katrina or tornados in Kentucky, or a terror attack.

"Those troops with extended deployments who are turning right around to go back overseas know that today, Senator McConnell laughed in their faces," Horne added.

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VoteVets.org is a pro-military organization committed to the destruction of terror networks around the world, with force when necessary. It represents the Voice of America's 21 Century Patriots - those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. It primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf of troops, veterans and their families.

Does Andrew Horne sound like a current kick-ass Senator from the demographically similar Southern State of Virginia?

Have we found our challenger to Mitch McConnell next year?

Here's some background info on Horne from the rising KY superstar blogger, Matt Gunterman at DitchMitchKY:

So, let's take a look at Lt. Col. Andrew Horne, who's a 44-y.o. retired Marine. Presently, he's a spokesperson for Iraq Summer, the group that led the protest that Joe reported on recently, and is a senior adviser for Vote Vets. In march, he delivered the Democratic response to one of George W. Bush's radio addresses (you can listen here).

And while Horne has never held elected office before, he's certainly not a newcomer to Kentucky politics. His classy handling of himself and his campaign in the 2006 Democratic primary against eventual winner John Yarmuth endeared him to many and also proved that he's a team player: he's about advancing a progressive, Democratic agenda. That's good.

Also, I've heard from several of my contacts in western Kentucky that he's attended some party and political events down that way. That's also a good sign, and shows that he's making a concerted effort to introduce himself to the party faithful outside of his base of Louisville. Word of mouth is a powerful and cheap tool for him at this stage.

I have never met Horne, but my gut tells me, as a candidate, he'd be a fighter on par with a Stumbo. To have Horne on stage with McConnell would be a nice juxtaposition, I believe. And, Horne is a fresh face to Kentuckians, and that might be the very sort of face Kentuckians will be looking for in 2008.

There's a growing "Draft Horne" movement out there. There's already a Facebook group behind the effort, and it's bigger than the similar "Draft Stumbo" and "Draft Owen" groups combined. It's good to see young people getting behind all these candidates, quite frankly, and I know that, should there be a competitive primary, all these candidates and their supporters will united behind the nominee.

The Democratic party in Kentucky is growing up like that in recent years; we've seen what happens when we fight amongst ourselves and Mitch McConnell has his way because of it: utter disaster is what happens.

Is this the man that will finally ditch Mitch?

(crossposted at BlueGrassRoots)