Toledo Blade
By KATE GIAMMARISE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
March 1, 2008
A young Iraq war veteran taking on newly elected Congressman Bob Latta and another challenger in Tuesday’s Republican primary says the leadership and decision-making skills he learned in the military are needed in Congress.
“I’ve seen how tough decisions are made and were made,” said Scott Radcliffe, 28, of Perrysburg, who recently finished his second tour of duty in Iraq.
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Mr. Radcliffe, in explaining why he is running, focused on his service in the military and the leadership skills he said he learned. He attained the rank of captain in the military.
In his first tour in Iraq, Mr. Radcliffe served as a tank platoon leader, he said. During his second tour, he was a speech writer for Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. Between the two tours, he was deployed to New Orleans for a month following Hurricane Katrina. He returned from his second Iraq tour in December.
He is a graduate of Perrysburg High School and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Gillmor was the congressional sponsor for Mr. Radcliffe to attend West Point.
“He did all kinds of things to keep in touch with us and remind us that we were his cadets,” Mr. Radcliffe said.
Mr. Radcliffe said he believes his conservative background makes him a good fit for the district. His campaign literature promotes him as a someone who will “defend family values, promote small business, and provide leadership in the war on terror” as well as reduce taxes and government spending.
While he said he tends to agree with most Republican policies, if elected, he would be more than a party-line legislator.
Case in point: He wants to scale back President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education policy, which he says was “good in theory,” but in practice left teachers teaching to the test and “sucked the creativity out of the classroom.”
He said he believes that veterans should serve as legislators. He’s a member of Iraq Veterans for Congress, a group of vets running for Congress in several states.
Mr. Radcliffe said he favors continuing the war and letting Iraq develop into a stable, sovereign nation at its own pace, drawing out U.S. forces as conditions allow.
Mr. Radcliffe said he knows running against an incumbent congressman won’t be easy.
“I’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “I came here. I set up a campaign in two weeks. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle.”
He’s hoping running in a presidential primary year will work in his favor.
“A lot of the folks that are coming out might be looking for change, might be looking for a new face,” he said.
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