Can We Talk about Something Else?

Vets' focus on Afghanistan doesn't click with voters.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | 12:07 p.m.

Army vet Tom Cotton (R) and Marine Reserves Lt. Col./policeman John Cowart (R) "share an unusual credential. ... Both have served with the military in Afghanistan, and both are ready to talk to voters about a war that is growing longer and more troubled. But the two have discovered something surprising ... even in a place where at least 1 in 10 residents is a veteran, people aren't really keen to discuss Afghanistan. It's remote. They're worried about things at home."

Cowart: "People are very interested in what I have to say, but my gut instinct is that's not going to drive anyone's vote to a large extent."

"For a candidate" in AR-04, "a military background means something. A steady stream of young men and women from Hot Springs, Pine Bluff and smaller towns here have been deployed to combat zones over last decade. In an especially sad distinction, the district is home to one of the only families in the nation to lose two members in Afghanistan -- brothers from El Dorado who were killed in 2009 and last January."

Cotton "regularly talks about his military experience in campaign appearances but relates it to dealing with problems at home and avoiding" DC's "political morass." Cotton: "If I was able to stand my ground there, I think I can stand it in Congress."

"The two veterans, as well as the four other candidates in the race, espouse positions that show the conflicting impulses about the war: a desire to leave soon but also to achieve something." The GOP candidates "all say they are opposed" to Pres. Obama's Dec. 2014 deadline for withdrawal (DeMillo, AP, 4/10).