Loyalties clash in 5th CD

War forces choice: Dem combat vet or GOP state senator

Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 23, 2006 at midnight

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COLORADO SPRINGS - City Councilman Scott Hente is an Air Force Academy graduate, a combat veteran and a longtime Republican, but next month, he'll be voting for Democrat Jay Fawcett for Congress.

The race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Joel Hefley in Colorado's 5th Congressional District is a race of clashing loyalties for many military veterans who have retired here - the Republican Party on one hand, a brother-in-arms on the other.

Fawcett, 50, is an Air Force Academy graduate, served in the first Gulf War in 1991, and has worked for a private defense contractor since retiring from the service in 1998.

He faces two-term state Sen. Doug Lamborn, 52, an anti-tax conservative without military experience who has pledged his full support to President Bush's policies on the Iraq war and the war on terrorism.

Hente, deeply concerned about the ongoing chaos in Iraq, is opting for Fawcett because he believes there is too little military experience in Congress to make seasoned military judgments.

"There's so few members of the administration or Congress who understand what it's like when you commit troops and forces," Hente said.

"Like Jay and like me, a lot of military veterans in this community want to know that those people in Congress, when they're committing forces, understand what they're doing and what they're asking those forces to get involved in."

Some vote in home states

No one knows how widespread the move to Fawcett might be among military veterans who lean heavily Republican in this district with five major military bases. Many active duty Army and Air Force troops stationed here forgo the Colorado race and vote absentee in their home states.

But the estimated 23,000 retired military who live here, and their 40,000 dependents, pack political punch. They are traditionally conservative and generally Republican, one reason why no Democrat has ever won the 5th Congressional District seat since its creation in 1972.

Still, for Hente at least, the course of the war plays a role in his support of Fawcett.

"I have very real misgivings about the scope of the mission and, a term we have in the military, the exit strategy," said Hente.

"At what point does the military say it (Iraq) is done, or does the administration allow the military to say it's done?" said Hente. "I don't have the answer, but I'm very concerned about what that's going to be."

Fawcett has called for a specific series of steps in Iraq that include training Iraqi forces, withdrawing U.S. troops to the borders to secure them, and allowing Iraqi troops to stabilize their own country. He also would prohibit permanent U.S. bases in Iraq.

Fawcett has bolstered his campaign with visits by high-profile combat veterans and Bush critics, Rep. John Murtha, Gen. Wesley Clark and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland. Several hundred attended their rallies.

Last Saturday, Murtha's visit drew a crowd that filled a downtown bar's basement meeting room and stretched upstairs and out the door, said Fawcett campaign director Wanda James, a former Navy officer.

"Does my military experience give me an entree? Yes, I think it does," said Fawcett. "Does it decide people's minds totally? No, but I think they're willing to look at me as a viable alternative instead of just pulling the lever for people with an R after their name."

Die-hards don't waver

Some military veterans say they won't consider Fawcett.

"I was a Democrat all my life, up until Kennedy," said Dick Carney, a World War II veteran who enjoyed an afternoon cocktail at the Retired Enlisted Association. "After that, the Democrats got too liberal and I went Republican. I'll vote Republican no matter what."

The enlisted association and its counterpart, the Military Officers Association of America, remain nonpartisan and endorse no candidates.

Lamborn's campaign director, Jon Hotaling, said Fawcett's military support is not significant across the district.

"There's no one else other than Jay's Republican friends who are endorsing him," said Hotaling. "Doug enjoys widespread Republican support in this district and Jay Fawcett's liberal views are out of line with the vast majority of voters."

Although Lamborn never served in the military, he is familiar with military and veterans' issues. In the legislature, he served on the veterans and military affairs committee, Hotaling said.

Marvin Strait, a prominent local accountant and longtime Republican, said Fawcett also appeals to non-military Republicans because "he's not a left-leaning liberal but a common sense kind of guy."

"I'm talking to several people who don't want to publicize it, but they've indicated when they do their secret ballot, that's the way they're going to vote," Strait said.

"There's a lot of general discontent with Lamborn," Strait said, over his close ties with far-right evangelical Christians and his anti-tax pledge that does not address runaway federal deficits.

No poll numbers

Does the discontent equate to major change in the district? Strait and Hente admit that they don't know. All of their information about Fawcett's support is "anecdotal." They have no poll numbers to indicate how the race will go.

Republicans outnumber Democrats 190,000 to 89,000 in the district, with 132,600 unaffiliated voters.

But even in this staunchly Republican district, dissatisfaction with current policies shows in the latest Rocky Mountain News/News 4 poll. In Colorado Springs, where 80 percent of the district's voters reside, support for the Iraq war has fallen, and only 49 percent of those sampled believe the country is on the "right track."

Whether the disaffection translates to votes is uncertain, Hente said.

"A lot of people in town will vote for the Republican regardless of who that is," said Hente.

"I've told Jay he's got an uphill battle because of that, and he knows that," Hente said.

fosterd@RockyMountainNews.com or 719-633-4442

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