Hartke: Politics her family’s legacy

Seventh District Congressional candidate Anita Hartke, a Democrat, is weary of war, like her father was.

“We need to have our troops available to defend us in this country. We need to have orderly withdrawal — 4,000 or more (troops) have already lost their lives. Many legislators have said this is a mistake,” she said of the Iraq war, “and there is no reason to go on killing our young men and women when we can have diplomacy and intelligent negotiation.

“People don’t need to go by brute force.”

Hartke, 48, spoke quickly and with apparent passion about her stance on the war as she waited for Gov. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to arrive at the Culpeper Country Club for a local fund-raiser last week.

On the eve of the announcement that she would, in fact, face four-term Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Richmond, in November’s election, Hartke, the relatively new chairwoman of the Culpeper County Democratic Committee, was full of energy, crumbling a piece of paper in her hand as she kept watch for Dean.

Dressed in an off-the-shoulder black dress trimmed in green, the Amissville resident and real estate broker seemed to have been waiting for this moment — when she would follow in her father’s footsteps.

“I come from a political family,” Hartke said of her dad, the late Sen. Vance Hartke, a Democrat from Indiana who served from 1959 to 1977 and ran for president on anti-war platform in 1972, at the height of Vietnam.

“A legacy to represent people in politics.”

A divorced mother of three who was born in Georgetown and raised in Virginia, Hartke said she is not “naïve” in thinking she can raise as much money as the incumbent.

But, she said, she has the desire to represent “the issues and thoughts” of the people.

Hartke, one of seven children, borrowed from her father’s experience in laying the groundwork for her campaign.

“My father was a major peace activist who was one of the first people to go out against the Vietnam War,” Hartke said. “He spoke to 600,000 people at the Washington Mall and broke his friendship with Lyndon Johnson over his stand against the Vietnam War.”

American dollars being spent today in Iraq could be better spent in America, she went on, building American infrastructure like highways, railroads, schools and hospitals.

“I think it’s morally wrong for our American troops to be dying overseas,” Hartke said of why voters should choose Democrat this November.

Her father helped end the war in Vietnam, she said, and Hartke wants to help do the same in Iraq.

Another parallel between she and dad, Hartke said, is the fact that both started their political careers as chairperson of a local Democratic Committee — she in Culpeper, he in Indiana.

“You asked me how do I expect to win? My father was county chair in Indiana, he became mayor and U.S. senator within five years after that,” Hartke said. “He pushed grassroots politics, representing the people like Harry Truman.”

Politics is about providing a forum for people to have their ideas heard, she said, instead of being “trampled or ignored” like under the current leadership.

“These concerns need to be heard,” she said. “My father won in a Republican red state — landslide victories. We’re going to have that again.”

Hartke named the subprime mortgage crisis as among other issues important to her.

“That’s implicit of credit card and other predatory lending practices like payday loans,” she said. “These credit issues are of major importance to our economy.”

Not to mention America’s global reputation.

“You know, we have got to look at how other countries see us,” Hartke said. “They say, ‘oh, the American dream for a new house, you don’t have to pay for it with cash.’ Now, they’re laughing at us. We need to show them that we are intelligent — that we are world leaders.”

Equal access to quality healthcare is also important to Hartke, mentioning the recent case of a 12-year-old Maryland boy who died of a tooth infection because his family couldn’t afford dental insurance.

“I mean this is the United States, the wealthiest country in the world, and we’re sending all of this money overseas before we take care of our elderly and our children,” she said.
Hartke said she wants to help instill pride back in the federal government.

“We can have politics turn from what is right now, which is something ugly, something that doesn’t represent the people, to something that’s honorable and good,” she said.
She expressed confidence in her — and Democrats’ — ability to win come Election Day.

“I think we have a Democratic wave, it’s tidal. The economy has left such a bad taste in Americans’ mouths. They’re suffering. They want to have their voice heard again so apathy is turning to action,” Hartke said.

At that, the now official Democratic nominee for the 7th District raced off to meet with former Gov. Dean, who told Hartke, “I bet you do all right” in the November election.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .