Irregular Results Raise Question About Ohio Rep. Regula's Plans

[struggle4progress]

By Greg Giroux, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
Published: June 11, 2007

~snip~ Now, with Regula approaching his 83rd birthday Dec. 3 — he is the second-oldest member of the House of Representatives — Regula is seen by some observers as a possible target for a Democratic Party takeover bid in 2008, or as a possible congressional retiree. And while Regula has not yet announced his plans for next year, candidates in both parties already are trying to get ahead of the curve in the 2008 campaign cycle.

Democratic hopeful John Boccieri, a state senator, formally kicked off his campaign Monday after saying a few weeks ago that he would run in the 16th regardless of what Regula does. ~snip~

The district .. is located in northeast Ohio and includes the city of Canton. Though the region has a long Republican tradition, it is not quite an overwhelming GOP stronghold these days. District voters favored President Bush in 2004, but his 54 percent to 46 percent edge over Democrat John Kerry was fairly modest. ~snip~

Boccieri’s personal background includes his current service as an officer in the Air Force Reserves. He has been deployed to the Middle East in four rotations to fly C-130 aircraft. ~snip~

http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/06/11/cq_2873.html

[lurky]

1. Just curious...

as a military reserve officer, could Boccieri be called up and forced to go to Iraq? Even if he held public office? It just makes me nervous, because you know Rove & Co would not be above pulling strings to make that happen during the campaign or something.