Vets fire back at Seals' ad
Lake County veterans Thursday fired a return volley on behalf of incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk in the increasingly hostile 10th Congressional District race.
About three dozen veterans from various eras gathered at a Lake Forest restaurant to support Kirk and denounce a television ad aired by Democratic challenger Dan Seals.
Kirk of Highland Park is seeking a fifth term. Seals, a business consultant from Wilmette, is challenging Kirk for a second time, having gathered 47 percent of the vote in 2006.
The ad features Iraqi war vet Caleb Davis of Peoria saying Kirk "turned his back on us" and was "irresponsible" in voting for the Iraq war.
Those opinions did not sit well with the veterans at Lovell's Restaurant, who fiercely defended Kirk for scuttling a plan to close the VA hospital in North Chicago. Ultimately, he brokered a deal to combine the facility with the nearby Naval Hospital Great Lakes to create a unique medical facility now under construction.
"Everything you see today is a result of Mark Kirk's personal involvement," said Al Pate, former director of the North Chicago VA facility. "Today, the VA-Navy relationship is the first of its kind in the federal government. That came out of one man's vision."
Pate, who does not live in the 10th District, said the Seals' ad was false and should be pulled. He said he wants to meet with Davis and offered to drive half way to Peoria to do so.
"I'd like to sit down with this young man ... and I'd like to explain to him what one member of Congress did for veterans in Lake County," Pate said.
Davis could not be reached for comment, but said in a statement released by Seals' campaign that he believes America was attacked by terrorists and does not support a Sept. 11 conspiracy theory.
Local veterans for Kirk countered with 23-year-old Joe Cook of Wauconda, an Army vet who lost a portion of his left leg to a roadside bomb while on patrol. Cook said he was outraged when he saw the ad. He supported Davis' right to an opinion, but said the statement that Kirk doesn't support veterans is false.
"When I got injured, Mark Kirk was one of the first people to call my household and asked if there was anything he could do," he said. "I know enough to know that what he did at the North Chicago VA is something special.
Seals said Kirk's criticism of the ad was "desperate."
"I think Mark Kirk instead of taking responsibility (for the war in Iraq) is attacking a soldier who served in it. That's wrong."
Kirk on his Web site says the ad contains "outright falsehoods" and cites votes that increased funding for veterans' medical care and benefits.