Democrats Hope Walz and the Party’s Military Veterans Have the Right Stuff

This election season marks the first time veterans have been the vice presidential nominees of major parties since 1996 when then-Vice President Al Gore, who enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam, faced Jack Kemp, the late NFL quarterback, Republican congressman, and Housing and Urban Development who was in the Army Reserve in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While both Vance and Walz come from modest Midwestern backgrounds, served as non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and used their GI bill benefits to attend state schools—Vance went to The Ohio State University, a flagship school, while Walz attended Nebraska’s Chadron State College—their trajectories dramatically diverged. In a new analysis for The Washington Monthly, VHPI Senior Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early write about these rival service candidates -- and others running for federal office -- to project the future of policymaking in America.Read their piece here.