WASHINGTON — Todd Lally should be getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. Instead, he's running for Congress.
"After I won the primary, my guys told me, ‘We'll fight over there, you keep fighting here,' " said Lally, a lieutenant colonel in the Kentucky Air National Guard and the Republican candidate in the state's 3rd District. "Part of me feels like I'm sitting on the bench."
Lally, a C-130 aircraft commander, is one in a group of veterans — 18 who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, one who served in the Horn of Africa — that claims a unique and underrepresented view of national security issues among lawmakers.
While candidates like Lally are focused on their counterparts overseas, voters aren't. The stagnant economy and high unemployment rates continue to be the main discussion points on the campaign trail, sometimes to the frustration of the war veterans.
A September Gallup poll showed the economy rated as the top election issue among likely voters this fall. The war in Afghanistan rated seventh, just after immigration and slightly above environmental issues.
"When we have a veterans forum, the wars and related issues are about all we talk about," Lally said. "I enjoy those, but you can't go to an automotive workers rally and talk about that. You have to answer their concerns."
Jon Soltz, co-founder and chair of VoteVets.org, a left-leaning political action committee focused on veteran candidates, said the shift in attitudes has made running a successful campaign more difficult for recent war heroes.
Not only are they frequently unfamiliar with fundraising and political maneuvering, they also have to prove their knowledge base expands beyond their military background.
"But if you're someone who is well-rounded, voters still respect someone who has fought for their country," he said. "So these guys we're backing now are not one-issue candidates. These are candidates with a progressive message, who can talk about jobs and the economic stimulus."
Kieran Lalor, founder of the conservative PAC Iraq Vets for Congress, agreed that fewer "military-only" veterans are entering Congressional races this year. But he said the pedigree of a military background is still a valuable political asset in any race.
"Right now, voters are saying they don't know who to trust, and there's an anti-incumbent message," said Lalor, who ran for a New York Congressional seat in 2008. "These guys have already put their neck on the line for this country."
Lalor said even with the smaller number of veteran candidates from recent wars, "I think we have a real chance to be in the double digits after the election is over."
Four veterans who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan serve in the House: Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa.; Rep. John Boccieri, D-Ohio; Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif.; and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has also spent time in Iraq performing legal duties as a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
Three other lawmakers — Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa.; Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa.; and Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn. — deployed overseas in support of Operation Enduring Freedom but never entered Afghanistan.
Sestak is running for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat, having defeated Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary. Murphy and Boccieri face tough re-election battles.
Boccieri said he frequently brings up national defense and veterans benefits issues while talking to voters in his district, but the wars overseas are rarely the first question his constituents pose.
"They still want to bring our people home safe, but they're more worried about having a job," said Boccieri, an Air Force Reserve major with four tours as a C-130 pilot flying into Iraq and Afghanistan. "Folks always thank me for my service, but then quickly start talking about why they're uneasy with the economic situation."
Republican candidate Steve Stivers, whose district sits just a few miles west of Boccieri's, echoed that sentiment but also said voters are aware of the dwindling number of veterans in Congress.
Only 94 members of the House and 25 Senators have served in the military, a number that has declined almost every cycle since the 1970s.
"There are questions that need to be asked every time we're going to use military force, and people in Congress who haven't served don't always ask the right questions," said Stivers, an Ohio National Guardsman who served overseas for nearly a year Iraq, Kuwait and Djibouti.
"So my experience, it matters to voters I talk to. That's an advantage I have. But in order to get elected, you also have to have answers for what their other question are."
Brian Lentz, a retired Army Reservist who commanded a Civil Affairs Unit in Mosul six years ago, said his role as a veterans is particularly valuable in his district. Lentz is running to replace Sestak as a southeastern Pennsylvania Congressman, in a district with one of the highest veteran concentrations in the state.
"So with a large group of those voters, being a veteran is a threshold issue of credibility," he said. "My mind is always on the mission, so they know I know how to look out for my guys.
"So, when we do talk about things like Afghanistan and the defense budget, it's not even a contest. But, of course, that's not the only issue."
Lentz, a Democrat, said a number of his former Army colleagues have traveled to Pennsylvania to campaign for him, including several Republicans who disagree with his politics but believe in him as a candidate.
He also keeps in touch with members of his old unit, now deployed in Afghanistan. Lentz said they help keep him grounded, and keep him focused on his policy beliefs instead of campaign politics.
"When it comes down to it, I'm not a politician," he said. "I'm still a veteran first."
