Campaigns & Elections
09-28-07
Obama Camp Brings Out Gen. McPeak to Show Military Credentials
By - Justin Schardin
It was a strange evening in downtown Des Moines, where about 25 people (a
considerable number of them being the campaign's own staffers) stopped by to
hear retired Gen. Tony McPeak speak, as a part of Obama's Commander-inChief Tour. More than once, McPeak was forced to stop his speech to wait for an
audience member to take a phone call or while another conducted a loud
ongoing commentary with his neighbor. It didn't seem to perturb the general's
façade much. The lanky, soft-spoken McPeak evoked a bit of Clint Eastwood as
he waited patiently for them to finish, and then spoke confidently about why he
became one of Obama's national campaign co-chairs.
"This guy is going to be one of the handful of great commanders-in-chief we've
ever had," said McPeak of Obama. "He's confident [and] not trying to prove
anything to anybody," as well as "intelligent, reasoned, deliberate and centered,"
the general added.
He said Obama has a charisma that is amazing, even to him. He also contrasted
Obama favorably to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., whom he did not mention
by name, calling her "brand X." He implied that Clinton's supporters were not
interested in real change.
Iowa State University political science professor Steffen Schmidt said
Obama is running a campaign of change and of not being an insider, but that
someone like McPeak can help balance the senator's image in voters' minds.
"[H]e's bringing in someone who can help him to [build] up his military
credentials," Schmidt said. "He doesn't have a lot of experience in foreign affairs,
so you bring in someone who can [speak authoritatively on defense issues] and it
just adds a little bit of weight."
Schmidt added, "Iowa is a state where the Democrats at least tend to be kind of
peaceniks, a lot more than concerned about military defense strength. So it
marginally could help him reinforce the sense that he understands his
weaknesses and will be looking for support for people like [McPeak]. That could
be a useful asset."
McPeak, who campaigned for presidential candidate Robert Dole in 1996 and
President George W. Bush in 2000, said he had a conversion soon after Bush
took office. He has campaigned for Democratic presidential candidates since,
trying to change America's Iraq policy among other things.
His visit to Des Moines wrapped up three days of events across Iowa. He said
after the event, "Iowa voters are very interesting. They expect politicians to come
to Iowa and sit down at their kitchen table and tell them face-to-face. They're
really involved in retail politics. They take it seriously."
Jackie Baum and Jane Brown, both veterans from Altoona, said McPeak's visit
was convincing. Baum said she was leaning more toward Obama now, and
Brown indicated the meeting had likely cinched her decision to support him.
Ankeny resident Carla Barten is undecided between Obama and Clinton. She is
leaning slightly toward Clinton because of her experience, especially on health
care.
Georga Bray of West Des Moines said she came into tonight as an Obama
supporter partly because of the greater payments for veterans he was able to
secure while an Illinois legislator. "He has a fairness built into him," she said.