Brown focuses on veterans' issues

Less than two years ago, he lost only narrowly in one of the most stoutly Republican congressional districts in California.

But these days the Democratic candidacy of retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Brown is being overshadowed by the advertising blitz and media spotlight of a combative GOP primary race to replace outgoing Rep. John Doolittle.

Now Brown is seeking both to energize his second congressional bid and to compete in a conservative district by focusing on the needs of veterans returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Brown brought in a war hero and a Democratic star – former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland – to drive home his dominant campaign theme for 2008: that America is failing in its patriotic duty to serve its veterans.

In a Sacramento appearance Thursday with soldiers and Marines from Vietnam and Iraq, Brown and Cleland criticized leading Republican candidates Tom McClintock and Doug Ose as slinging political mud at each other while failing to offer plans to help America's war heroes.

Brown also unveiled an ad touting his commitment to veterans and depicting his own family's military service: His wife was an Air Force nurse, Brown flew a rescue helicopter in combat in Cambodia and their son has served four Air Force tours in Iraq.

The commercial, which will begin airing in the Sacramento media market Monday, says in part: "Charlie Brown understands that treating America's wounded warriors is our greatest responsibility."

The Ose and McClintock camps scoff at both the Brown ad and his political viability in the heavily Republican district.

Ose spokesman Doug Elmets assailed Brown's activism in protesting the Iraq war in 2006, saying: "It is inconsistent with the views of the vast majority of veterans and voters of the 4th Congressional District."

McClintock spokesman Stan Devereux said the 4th District – where the GOP holds a 17 percent voter registration advantage – "is a conservative district that supports veterans, and veterans will be supported by the Republican elected to Congress."

Brown, who lost to Doolittle by 49 percent to 46 percent in 2006, announced his second bid for the seat last September with a pledge that he would direct 5 percent of campaign contributions raised to veterans groups and causes.

At the time, his goodwill gesture was a dig at Doolittle, who drew criticism for paying his wife a 15 percent commission on money she brought in for the congressman's campaign.

Brown now faces skepticism over whether he can win in November without a politically vulnerable Doolittle in the race.

He has responded with campaign appearances accompanied by people such as half brothers Cody Conway and Jonah Hutchinson, who served in the Army and Marines in Iraq. Conway, who walks with a cane, was badly injured when a truck engine slammed into him as he and others were unloading it to repair a Marine assault vehicle.

Brown met Conway while pledging support for a veterans organization at Sierra College, where Conway is studying psychology to someday help fellow veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress.

"I didn't even know who he was," Conway said. "He started talking to me and asking me what he could do to help."

Since making his September pledge, the Brown camp has donated $20,000 in campaign funds to local veterans shelters, counseling centers, educational opportunities and other programs.

Meanwhile, Brown publicly decries high rates of suicide and post-traumatic stress among Iraq war veterans.

He complains about a Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy ill-equipped to serve claims for assistance from nearly 600,000 veterans.

He has picked up fiery support from Cleland, a former Veterans Affairs director and recipient of the Silver Star who lost both legs and his right arm from a battlefield explosion in Vietnam.

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• Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.