RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Republican Backs His Stand on Iraq by Deploying

Jonathan L. Paton is preparing to go to war in Iraq.

Mr. Paton has told his 77-year-old father, in a telephone conversation punctuated with sobs and pauses, how he wishes to be buried, if it comes to that.

He has shot endless rounds at a police firing range, courtesy of the president of the National Rifle Association, who lives here.

He has endured hugs, sometimes uncomfortably long, from well-wishers who offer prayers, concerned looks and forced smiles.

And, of course, he has been to send-offs, like the one the other night at Pima County Republican Party headquarters, where he was saluted for public service and received assurances that he would win the election.

Election?

Mr. Paton, running for his second two-year term in the Arizona House, is one of four Republicans in his district’s primary on Sept. 12 who are competing for two seats. The balloting occurs five days after Lieutenant Paton, an intelligence officer in the Army Reserve, is due at Fort Benning, Ga., to prepare for a five-month to six-month tour in Iraq and, maybe, Afghanistan.

An untold number of mayors and city council members in the National Guard and the Reserves have served in the war, along with, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a handful of the 57 state legislators nationwide who are in the military.

Five members of Congress serve in reserve branches. But by law and Defense Department policy their status as federal officeholders automatically places them in the Standby Reserve, making it less likely that they will be called to combat duty.

Mr. Paton, 35, stands out. Unlike most of the others, he has asked to go, a decision that surprised and shocked some family members and friends, though he said most had expressed support.

Mr. Paton said he did not want his status as an elected official to excuse him from combat, something instructors in a training program he attended last year suggested would happen. He decided that his full-throated support of the war would seem contradictory if he was not willing to serve.

The only reaction from opponents has been encouragement.

“We wish him the best,” said Frank Callegari, another Republican in the primary who said Mr. Paton’s deployment had not been raised at public forums. “Service to country is a big plus, but you also have to look at our positions in terms of how we want to address public issues.”

The lone Democrat in the race, Clarence Boykins, did not respond to messages for comment.

Like many another soldier headed to combat, Mr. Paton has seen his decision to serve affect his personal life.

Strangers have asked why he would serve in that “stupid war,” as one put it. He has worked to soothe his girlfriend, who supports him but opposes the war. His father, John, still seems to be coming to terms with the whole thing.

Mr. Paton, whose father and mother (she died two years ago) used to take their four children on road trips to state capitals in the West, caught the political bug for good after an internship in 1995 with a State Senate committee.

A self-described “punk kid” convinced that he could do better than the legislators he had worked with, Mr. Paton ran a quixotic and losing campaign against two incumbents for the House in 1998. After a second unsuccessful effort in 2000, putting 25,000 miles on the Honda Civic that he still drives (now with 157,602 miles), he won office in 2004, in a newly drawn district.

He said he had given up a “six figure” job as a lobbyist for the building industry for the $24,000-a-year part-time legislative post, also performing occasional political consulting on the side. “It is the best decision I ever made,” he said.

After his first “crushing” loss, Mr. Paton joined the Army Reserve, seeking a change of direction, he said. A brother had been a Naval intelligence officer, and his campaign manager was in the Army Reserve.

In the end, he said, the Reserve gives him a connection with people in his district. He now serves on the House military affairs committee.

Although he sees his choice to go to Iraq as a natural progression, he said he had grown weary of the attention, concerned that it runs counter to military principles that all soldiers are equal.

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( from the article: )
An untold number of mayors and city council members in the National Guard and the Reserves have served in the war, along with, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a handful of the 57 state legislators nationwide who are in the military.

Five members of Congress serve in reserve branches. But by law and Defense Department policy their status as federal officeholders automatically places them in the Standby Reserve, making it less likely that they will be called to combat duty.

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Wednesday said:
That's one

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Wonder Boy said:

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( from the article: )
An untold number of mayors and city council members in the National Guard and the Reserves have served in the war, along with, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a handful of the 57 state legislators nationwide who are in the military.

Five members of Congress serve in reserve branches

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the G-man said:
Mr. Paton, 35, stands out. Unlike most of the others, he has asked to go, a decision that surprised and shocked some family members and friends, though he said most had expressed support.

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