aw, Sioux, look at this gal, Lost two legs in the Iraq war and now she's a democrat - funny how that happens that most vets become democrats - and now she's kicking butt. I hope the dems win. Like you, I'm leery: raq amputee vivid champion of Dems' hopes
Illinois political novice exemplifies party's new energy
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
(10-17) 04:00 PDT Lombard, Ill. -- Tammy Duckworth makes the most dramatic entrance in American politics. She can't help it.
Duckworth, the Democratic nominee in a tightly fought, expensive race for a traditionally Republican House seat in Chicago's seemingly endless western suburbs, lost both legs when the Army combat helicopter she was piloting north of Baghdad in 2004 was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Now she teeter-totters along unsteadily on high-tech artificial legs and a cane or gets around in a wheelchair. Her injuries, which also included a shattered right arm, sparked the political career of the first-time candidate, who was recruited by national Democratic leaders.
The 38-year-old still attends occasional weekend sessions as an Illinois National Guard major. She said that if not for her wounds, she would like to return to duty in the Iraq war she believes has been botched by President Bush and the Republican Congress.
"But I don't think the Army wants pilots with no legs,'' she said outside a diner where she had chatted with the lunchtime crowd.
Her opponent is Republican state Sen. Peter Roskam, who in any other year and against another opponent might coast to victory in the race for the seat being vacated after 32 years by GOP Rep. Henry Hyde, who is probably best known as the chief House prosecutor in the impeachment case of former President Bill Clinton.
But Duckworth, who attracts a steady stream of reporters and camera crews from around the world, is no ordinary candidate. And with Republicans under fire for the very war in Iraq that left Duckworth so badly injured, and for tales of congressional corruption that have prompted some to criticize the leadership of Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who represents a neighboring House district, 2006 is hardly an ordinary year.
"When she gets up and tries to walk to the microphone, you see why it's an even race,'' said Paul Green of the Institute for Politics at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
"It makes no difference what she says. Her presence is greater than her message,'' he added.
It's that presence coupled with a sunny disposition and a disciplined middle-of-the-road message that Democrats hope will provide them with one of the 15 seats they need to gain control of the House for the first time since 1994.
Roskam, the Republican minority whip in the state senate, is a formidable candidate and a well-known figure in DuPage County, which accounts for about 80 percent of the district. The rest is in Cook County around O'Hare airport.
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