Show Wounded Veteran sees house race as second chance Peter The Washington Post The smiling candidate in rimless eyeglasses and a long woolen skirt maneuvers carefully among tables and chairs as she works a crowded She is taking small steps and the reason for the slight awkwardness in her gait is not instantly clear Reaching to shake hands with a voter she says You Vou may have heard of me Im I'm the Iraq war vet who's running I was injured over there Talking with another she says I actually lost both my legs I can walk because I got really good health care Veteran Cont on PagE Page 8 r. r i rl I a h I r Jd R f M 4 I Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth campaigns outside an Illinois strip mall Veteran Cont from front Tammy Duckworth Democratic candidate for Congress cannot escape the catastrophic wounds she suffered suffered suffered suf suf- as an Army Anny helicopter pilot in Iraq And for the purposes purposes purposes pur pur- poses of her candidacy she does not want to For better or worse her injuries are her signature signature signature sig sig- sig- sig nature her motivator and she hopes her ticket into the consciousness consciousness consciousness con con- of voters in the Illinois District I cant can't avoid the interest in inthe inthe inthe the fact that Im I'm an injured female soldier Duckworth 37 says in an interview at her campaign campaign cam cam- headquarters in Lombard west of Chicago Understand that Im I'm going to use this as a platform That is just what a pair pak of influential Illinois Democrats expected when they recruited her to seek the seat surrendered after 32 years by Republican stalwart Henry Hyde Sen Richard Durbin and Rep Rahm Emanuel appealed to Duckworth when she was still recovering from her injuries dissing the up-and-running up campaign of fellow Democrat Christine Cegelis who took 44 percent of the vote against Hyde in 2004 Duckworth who considers the Iraq war a mistake is among about a dozen veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan running for federal office this year at last count allbut all allbut allbut but one of them Democrats The party leadership is calculating calculating calculating lating that candidates who wore the uniform can offer a credible counterpoint on national security ty to Republicans who have dominated the debate from the campaign trail to Capitol Hill That's fine with Duckworth She sees the race and pretty much everything else since Nov 12 2004 when an insurgents insurgent's insurgents insurgent's insurgents insurgent's gents gent's rocket-propelled rocket grenade exploded at her feet as a second second second sec sec- ond chance I know this sounds really corny but Ive I've just got to be more Duckworth says Ive got to be bemore bemore bemore more than I was Of being a pilot Duckworth says I love controlling this giant fierce machine I 1 strap that bird on my back and Im I'm in charge of it and we just go and its it's just power and this machine and how smoothly the crew works together Her public career began shortly after Durbin invited wounded Illinois vets to attend last years year's State of the Union address Duckworth promoted to major soon was calling Durbin's office to get help for military families which led to congressional testimony on onn n military health care With a boost from her new political friends Duckworth formally announced her candidacy candidacy candi candi- dacy on Dec 18 on ABCs ABC's This Week with George r 1 |