Best Political Resume Ever

[babylonsister]

Best Political Resume Ever

by Benjamin Sarlin


www.anthonywoodsforcongress.com

Insurgent congressional candidate Anthony Woods' life story reads like Aaron Sorkin wrote it—he's a gay, black Iraq veteran with a Harvard degree. He talks to The Daily Beast's Benjamin Sarlin about running on his biography.



In every election cycle, there’s one candidate whose life story stands out among the crowd. In 2004, it was Barack Obama; in 2006, it was Vietnam vet Jim Webb. This year, an underdog candidate for U.S. Congress in California is the clear winner and it's not even close. Anthony Woods' biography—he’s a gay, black Iraq vet with a Harvard degree—reads like a West Wing script Aaron Sorkin threw into the wastebasket for being too over the top.

Woods, 28, is currently running in a crowded Democratic field to replace Rep. Ellen Tauscher in California's 10th district, which includes parts of Sacramento and San Francisco's East Bay area. (Tauscher is leaving Congress to serve in Obama’s State Department; there’s no date yet for the special election.) Though he was briefly an aide to Gov. David Paterson in New York, Woods is the political unknown in the field, which includes California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan.

All that is likely to change soon, as Woods’ resume seems perfectly tuned to attract national attention. One of his top issues is repealing the military’s “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, an issue that seems to be gathering steam as liberals try to hold President Obama to his campaign pledge. Woods has already received an endorsement from Dan Choi, a fellow West Point graduate whose recent discharge for being gay made him a rallying point for activists, and popular blogger Andrew Sullivan recently took note of his campaign as well.

For Woods, the issue is deeply personal. He was forced to leave a promising Army career after he came out in 2008. He received an honorable discharge under the DADT rules.

“I knew getting into it that if I took a stand it would be a costly decision and it certainly has become one,” Woods said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “But people have to take a stand for what's right. There's a reason this policy is on the front burner now... We're a country fighting two wars, having trouble recruiting, yet we want to turn away some of our most talented, most well trained soldiers?”

Woods said that he “agonized” over the decision to come out for several months while he was studying for his masters in public policy at Harvard. In addition to his military career, his choice ended up costing him his military scholarship as well as several friends.

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-09/best-political-resume-ever/full/

[Doctor_J]

1. Hmm...degrees from West Point and Harvard, Iraq combat veteran.

and 28 years old. Sounds pretty "elitist" to me. The Repukes are going to hate him.

[babylonsister]

2. Yet ANOTHER reason to love him! nt

[DCKit]

3. Affirmative Action on Steroids, obviously.

:sarcasm:
Funny, but when I DADT'd, I had to threaten to find out personally how many queers there were in the military. I guess they've streamlined the process since then.