Blake Hall
Iraq War vet Rep. Tulsi Gabbard caused a stir when she resigned from her position as the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee to publicly endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders last month. In a new campaign ad titled “The Cost of War,” the Hawaii representative describes how her military service informed her decision to support Sanders over Clinton.
“Being a warrior is about believing in what you are fighting for and holding strong to those convictions,” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says in the ad. “I could not stay back in beautiful Hawaii and watch my brothers and sisters in uniform go off into combat.”
Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003, and in 2004 she was shipped out to Iraq with the 29th Support Battalion medical company. Already a state representative, Gabbard chose to put her political career on hold so she could remain deployed. It’s been a decade since her deployment ended, but Gabbard is still a service member.
As a native Hawaiian and military veteran, the congresswoman’s voice holds a lot of weight in her home state. It’s no wonder that she starred in an ad that aired shortly before the Hawaii caucus to remind the electorate of Sanders’ military-related voting record.
“Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq war,” Gabbard says. “He understands the cost of war—that that cost is continued—when our veterans come home. Bernie Sanders will defend our country and take the trillions of dollars that are spent on these interventionist regime change, unnecessary wars and invest it here at home. The American people are not looking to settle for inches. They’re looking for real change. What I saw in Bernie was the heart of aloha. No matter who you are or where you come from in this country, we are all in this together.”
Bernie Sanders won the Hawaii caucus on Saturday at a strong 69.8 percent, winning him 17 delegates.