New York’s 20th congressional district has a problem.
It’s an R+2 district, one that Bush carried 54 percent to 46 percent in 2004, and one that Obama carried by 3 percent, a classic swing district. But their Democratic congressman, Scott Murphy, is one of those so-called “moderate Democrats” who are never moderate when it really counts. He voted for Obamacare, and staunchly opposes repeal. He voted against a ban on federally funded abortions. He voted for cap-and-trade. Murphy likes to talk a lot about his strong views on pay-as-you-go, but he voted to raise the debt ceiling. He voted for the giant omnibus appropriations bill and against an amendment that would have required larger down payments for Federal Housing Administration mortgages.
The solution for this district is Chris Gibson, a candidate whose résumé positively glows.
He graduated magna cum laude from Siena College while earning an ROTC commission there, and then spent 24 years in the Army, reaching the rank of colonel. He served four combat tours to Iraq, as well as deployments to Kosovo and the southwestern U.S. for a counter-drug operation. Most recently, just before retirement, in Haiti he “commanded the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team during the opening month of that humanitarian relief operation.” Among his military decorations are two Legions of Merit, four Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge with Star, the Master Parachutist Badge, and the Ranger Tab. Oh, and somehow he found the time to get an MPA and PhD in government from Cornell University.
Finally, Victor Davis Hanson raves about him, and if that’s not a compelling endorsement, I don’t know what is.
Help him out. VDH will tell you it’s what King Leonidas would do.