Following in Tim Walz's footsteps

Two vets redeploy to campaign trail

In races for Congress, a pair of DFLers bring their Iraq war experiences to the campaign, offering personal perspectives to a central election issue.

By MARK BRUNSWICK, Star Tribune

It doesn't take long for war stories to emerge when congressional candidates Ashwin Madia and Steve Sarvi hit the campaign trail.

Both are Iraq veterans running as DFLers. The battle for hearts and minds now takes Madia to the western suburbs of Hennepin County, where he is running for the Third District seat left open by retiring Republican Jim Ramstad. It takes Sarvi to the southeastern suburbs and farmland of the Second District, where Sarvi is challenging Republican incumbent John Kline.

They join a nationwide redeployment of at least a dozen other Iraq or Afghanistan veterans running for Congress in 2008. Most of the veteran candidates are Democrats. Many, like Sarvi and Madia, are running for a major elected office for the first time.

With war weariness much on voters' minds, the vets' march on Washington looks like a winning strategy to some.

"Vets like Sarvi and Madia have just come back recently," said James Bootz, chairman of the DFL veterans' caucus.

"They've got firsthand experience and still have connections to people who are over there," Bootz added. "It's a big advantage just having them in the race."

(More here.)