Senate candidate Kendrick Meek says wars need public focus
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Florida Times-Union
David Hunt
07/06/2010
With more than 1 million Floridians out of work, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek said on the U.S. Senate campaign trail that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a back seat to job creation."We have to look at Afghanistan as a dollar sign," the Democrat told The Times-Union's editorial board Tuesday. "We have to really look at what price our troops are paying, personally and socially, and the price the U.S. taxpayer is paying. And we need to keep the pressure on."It could be standard discussion in Florida, home to 21 of the nation's military installations. Problem is, the latest unemployment figures from the state Agency for Workforce Innovation show nearly 1.1 million Floridians are out of work, a statewide jobless rate of 11.7 percent.The economy is "in their face and at the dining room table. People understand that," Meek said. "The war is more something they read about in the paper. Every now and then, they see on the TV how a family is affected by it."Even as the debate spotlight shines on what candidates can do to get people back to work, there's a financial danger lingering.Troop withdrawals are scheduled to begin from Afghanistan next July and taxpayers continue to spend billions on the conflicts as the overall federal deficit mounts.The National Priorities Project, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that analyzes federal data, estimates U.S. taxpayers have spent nearly $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan. More than 1,000 American troops have died in the Afghan conflict alone since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."People want to talk about jobs. I don't think anyone is out there saying what is the role of a United States senator in bringing that war to a close," Meek said.Other Senate candidates reported similar interactions with voters."It's the No. 1 thing we hear about: Jobs. Jobs and then the oil spill," said Michelle Todd, a spokeswoman for Gov. Charlie Crist, who's running as an Independent.Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, the likely Republican nominee, supported President Barack Obama's decision to increase the troop presence in Afghanistan. But he said he was wary of the idea of a set date to begin troop withdrawal.Jeff Greene, a real estate tycoon who's running against Meek in the Democratic primary, said through a campaign spokesman that he supported Obama's decision, too. The Greene campaign also has stressed the importance of taking care of the veterans returning from combat zones.
