Politician goes to Iraq -- literally

If you're going to run for political office, you must have the "Uh-oh factor" built into your campaign strategy. Somewhere before election day, something will happen to stop candidates in their tracks, and they'll be uttering "Uh-oh" as they try to adjust to the unexpected development.

That happened to a Fresno City Council candidate last February. Susan Good's opponent, incumbent Larry Westerlund, was on the steps of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium that day announcing that he had been called to active duty with the Navy and was heading for Iraq.

Friends and supporters surrounded Westerlund as he was preparing to go off to war. His wife was hugging him. There were many tears. Westerlund gulped and said he would stay in the race, but voters would have to excuse his absence, because he would be serving his country in Iraq.

Now that was a time for Good to scream "Uh-oh." She might even have been forgiven if she said something much saltier about this political curve ball. She had a pile of campaign ammunition ready to lob at her opponent, and he wouldn't even be there.

Good has been left to poke at Westerlund early, well in advance of his May 16 deployment. But he won't be around for the crucial last 18 days of the June 3 election campaign, and Good can't very well criticize him for being AWOL since he's serving his country.

This has changed the dynamics of what was supposed to be a very competitive race.

"She's in a rough position," said Tom Holyoke, an assistant professor of political science at California State University, Fresno. "It's almost traitorous -- or at least it could be seen as unpatriotic -- to attack him. He's off doing what he's supposed to be doing for his country."

Westerlund was scheduled to leave April 24, but his orders were changed to depart on Friday. Good said she's committed to bringing out issues before he leaves, so he has a chance to respond to her charges. But she says he hasn't appeared at every forum, and "people think he's already gone."

Westerlund says he hasn't been ducking her, and has attended most of the campaign forums. He admits his council schedule has forced him to miss a couple of appearances.

Westerlund said he continues to provide service to his constituents and will remain accessible to them until his deployment. He is scheduled to be on active duty through the end of this year and at least a few months into his next term if he is re-elected.

Westerlund said that while he is an elected official, being called to active duty is something that many in the community have faced. "I'm not doing anything differently than what hundreds of others have done when they are called to serve," Westerlund said. "Many families have had to give up a lot more than I have, so my case is not special in that respect."

While this race has increased interest because of Westerlund's deployment, Good says, it's the pundits who have made a big deal out of it. I suppose she's talking about me and other commentators. I may be missing something here, but it seems that this race is a lot different than others because the incumbent isn't even going to be in the country.

"The voters aren't making a big deal out of it," Good said. They are focused on determining who is the best person to represent District 4, she said. "I'm getting a good response from residents. Their issues haven't changed in their neighborhoods, and they want better representation."

When walking precincts, she said some voters have asked why Westerlund didn't resign when he got his call-up orders. She said she's been defending his right to be "made whole" when he returns from active duty. It's the right thing to so, she said. No one would join the reserve if their jobs weren't available to them when they got back, she said.

The issue is not whether Westerlund is on active duty, Good said. It's whether he will defend his record during the time before he's deployed. "What's discouraging is that he is not using this time to answer questions I've raised," she said.

Good delivered a mailer to Westerlund's home that lists eight questions for him to answer. It's part of a "quiz" that she's also asking District 4 voters to take so they can compare their answers to the two candidates. She said Westerlund hasn't responded.

After Westerlund reports for duty, his mother and wife will be campaigning for him. It's bad enough that Good has to run against an incumbent who is going into the military. Now she must figure out how to take on his mom and his wife. "Uh-oh" moment No. 2.

(Jim Boren is The Fresno Bee's editorial page editor. E-mail him at jboren@fresnobee.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)