Obama Won't Commit to Event at Military Base
A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.
CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11.
The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.
He wouldn't dare answer these questions directly from American Service People !
“I’m having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why,” said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. “We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates.”
The organizers released details about the event in hopes that it would pressure the Obama campaign to agree to the event.
We got the impression that they could talk us to November.”
A military audience might seem more hospitable to a Republican candidate, particularly one like Mr. McCain, who has made his support for the war in Iraq the heart of his campaign.
And organizers say many Fort Hood residents — the base serves about 218,000 people, including service members, retirees and military families — have grown tired of the war and agree with Mr. Obama’s declaration that it must end.
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Organizers say the veterans and military population in the United States, including families, totals about 44 million people.
Organizers include American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans for Common Sense and Military Spouse Corporate Career Network.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/us...prod=permalink
Originally Posted by Zeus
