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Service to country: In Kentucky, the fight to bring more veterans to Congress

You wouldn鈥檛 think that a Massachusetts Democrat would be of much help wooing voters deep in Trump Country.

But that鈥檚 who retired Marine Corps fighter pilot Amy McGrath enlisted in her bid to win Kentucky鈥檚 6^th 聽congressional district, one of the most closely watched races in the country.

Just days before the election, as Democrats bask in the aroma of chili and possible victory at the Bourbon County fairgrounds, Rep. Seth Moulton (D) of Massachusetts 鈥� a fellow Marine 鈥� steps up to the hay bales and pumpkins to make his pitch for Lieutenant Colonel (retired) McGrath.

鈥淚 was just a dumb grunt as an infantry guy, slogging through the mud,鈥� says Congressman Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq. 鈥淏ut I鈥檒l never forget what it meant, what it felt like, when I heard jets coming. They had our back.鈥�

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the biggest thing about Amy ... she鈥檚 going to have your back in Congress,鈥� he continues. 鈥淎nd it doesn鈥檛 matter what the Republicans say, it doesn鈥檛 matter what our leaders in the Democratic Party say 鈥撀爏he鈥檚 going to fight for what鈥檚 right, because that鈥檚 just who she is.鈥�

Moulton is spearheading an ambitious bid to bring a new generation of leaders to Congress 鈥撀爈eaders who, he argues, will put country above party on Capitol Hill just as they have in the military. Over fried cod tail at a diner, he explains his mission is not only to take back the House, but to transform an institution that has become mired in political point-scoring 鈥� to the detriment of the people they serve.

鈥淢y observation is that Congress is not lacking in intelligence 鈥撀爉ost of my colleagues are pretty smart,鈥� says Moulton. 鈥淲hat Congress is lacking is courage.鈥�

That鈥檚 why he was one of the first people to endorse McGrath, who was such a dark horse that her own pollster thought she鈥檇 do well to lose the primary by only 20 percentage points to the Democratic Party鈥檚 preferred candidate.

With Moulton鈥檚 help, she beat him by 8 points.

With Election Day fast approaching, a New York Times/Siena College poll shows her with her opponent, Rep. Andy Barr (R).

鈥淢y talk of country over party kind of scares both sides, it scares both establishments,鈥� says McGrath.听鈥�Seth immediately was like 鈥� 鈥楴o, this is the kind of person we need.鈥� 鈥�

Time for a change?

It wasn鈥檛 the first time Moulton challenged the Democratic establishment.

In the wake of the party鈥檚 stunning defeat in 2016, he has become one of the most vocal in calling for House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and other senior leaders to step aside.

鈥淚magine being a CEO 鈥� you have the worst returns since 1920, but you say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to keep the current leadership,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 asinine.鈥�

That has left the party in a position of weakness, he argues, unable to intervene as the GOP-controlled Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibility to hold the president accountable.

鈥淲e all talk about the ways in which [President] Trump is tearing apart our democracy 鈥� they鈥檙e very real,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut the Founding Fathers knew that that could happen.... [T]hey designed our system of government so that Congress could be a check on the executive. And the Republican Congress has completely failed in that job.鈥�

Moulton is seen by some as a promising new kind of leader who could be a presidential contender as soon as 2020. But his unabashed criticism of top Democratic figures has provoked grumblings on Capitol Hill, where some members of his own party have described him privately as an opportunistic neophyte.

But in his first term, Moulton was ranked No. 2 for effectiveness among all Democratic freshman legislators by the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

鈥淗is success at advancing his legislative agenda in the 114^th Congress was very consistent with this rhetoric of trying to cross party lines and forge bridges,鈥� says Alan E. Wiseman of Vanderbilt University, who is co-director of the center.

Moulton has also been ranked of representatives for bipartisanship. Now he鈥檚 cultivating a group of like-minded veterans or service-minded Americans to join him on Capitol Hill.

In total, Moulton has raised $8 million to support 67 candidates in 28 states. He has also helped the congressional candidates to support each other through a Slack messaging channel, a trip to the Mexican border, and group debate prep sessions. Even as he鈥檚 waging his own reelection campaign and navigating the first few weeks as a new dad, he has been crisscrossing the country stumping for his mentees.

They include Conor Lamb, the Pennsylvanian who staged a stunning upset earlier this year; Colin Allred, a former NFL player who 鈥� according to a new poll 鈥� just pulled ahead of 15-year GOP incumbent Pete Sessions in northern Texas; and McGrath, who has mounted such a strong challenge to Representative Barr that Trump personally came out to rally Republican voters last month.

Often dressed in fleece jackets with minimal makeup and jewelry, she combines a Marine toughness with a mama-bear warmth, as comfortable talking about her kid running around the neighborhood naked as she is underscoring the historic importance of the 2018 vote. 聽

鈥淭his election is about the soul of our country,鈥� the mother of three tells the crowd at the chili dinner. It is about who we are, it is about who we want to be, what kind of country we want our kids to grow up in.

鈥淒o we want leaders that always demonize the other side? .... Or do we want leaders with courage?鈥�

She describes herself as leading by example, running a substantive campaign focused on issues rather than attack ads.

But Barr, who was first elected in 2012, challenges that narrative.

鈥淣obody should be under the false impression that my opponent has somehow run this pristine, positive campaign,鈥� he said in a fiery Oct. 29 debate, accusing McGrath of misrepresenting his record. Among other things, he cited the fact that every single Democrat in the House voted in support for his bill to levy tough sanctions on North Korea, which passed 415-to-2 but is awaiting passage by the Senate. 鈥淒espite this narrative that somehow I am partisan, the reality is that I routinely work across the aisle to get things done for the people of this district.鈥�

He also has a strong record of getting results for veterans, says his communications director, Jodi Whitaker. Among his initiatives: setting up the Sixth District Veterans Coalition, which has helped hundreds of veterans resolve disability claims; expanding GI bill eligibility; and allowing survivors of military sexual trauma to seek treatment outside of the VA system.

While McGrath has leaned heavily on her veteran status, some Kentucky veterans have accused her of misleading voters. Though she did become a Marine Corps pilot, during her 89 combat missions bombing Al Qaeda and the Taliban she wasn鈥檛 in the pilot鈥檚 seat. She was the back-seat weapons system operator.

Judith Cannon of North Middletown doesn鈥檛 buy the criticism.

鈥淲as she crocheting or knitting back there?鈥� asks Ms. Cannon outside the chili dinner. 鈥淚 know how hard she had to work, how much she had to take ... how good she had to be.... If the Marines can trust her, I think I can, too.鈥�

A viral video, funded by aunts

McGrath burst onto the national scene with a , talking about overcoming naysayers to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot, that attracted more than a million views in just a few days, and brought in $1 million over the next few months.

But there was never any guarantee it would be a success. When McGrath decided to move back home to Kentucky after two decades in the Marines, she knew just two politicians. She called her aunts to ask for money, and went $7,000 in the red to produce that first video.

It was the tenor of that 2016 election that catapulted her into politics.

鈥淭he fake news, the divisiveness, the labeling each other.... I just shook my head. This isn鈥檛 us,鈥� says McGrath, whose service galvanized her sense that Americans are all in this together.

She recalls a fellow pilot 鈥� 鈥淪ugar Bear鈥� was his call sign 鈥� with whom she worked side by side in Afghanistan鈥檚 Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold. He was a Republican, like her husband, which made for lively debates.

鈥淏ut man, we came together as Marines to get our job done,鈥� she recalls. One day in 2010 he went out on a mission and was . It鈥檚 losses like that, she says, that have given her a larger sense of what it means to serve the country and put people above politics.

鈥淪ugar Bear and I might have disagreements but we never doubted our patriotism, we never doubted our love of country,鈥� she says, adding that Moulton shares the same values. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 who we are as Americans.鈥�