VFW endorses "Don't Call Me M'am" Boxer?

Katy Grimes: Yesterday, Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer, running in the fight of her life for reelection to the U.S. Senate, campaigned in Lincoln, CA. Besides questioning why she chose Lincoln for a campaign stop, news broke that The Veterans of Foreign Wars-Political Action Committee endorsed Boxer.

What? Veterans endorsing one of the most liberal Democrats in the U.S. Senate? 

Interestingly, it’s the VFW that came out swinging. In a statement Monday, the VFW clearly delineated the VFW PAC from the VFW. “The national line officers of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) are at odds with the VFW Political Action Committee (PAC), and called the methodology process used by the PAC “seriously flawed at best this year and in immediate need of extensive review,” in the wake of the recent congressional endorsements made by the committee.”

Today, the Associated Press reported that the VFW asked the VFW PAC to rescind the Democrat endorsements: “Endorsements from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee have so enraged many VFW members that its elected leaders have asked the PAC to immediately rescind all endorsements for next month’s election. The PAC operates separately from the veterans group and bases its endorsements on how lawmakers voted on issues of importance to veterans and members of the military.”

The VFW PAC refused to pull the endorsements.

Reviewing the VFW PAC bylaws, I discovered that the VFW PAC leadership positions are appointments by the Commander-in-Chief, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Richard L. Eubank.  

Today however, Eubank is not very happy with the VFW PAC.  Eubank and two other top officers asked VFW PAC to pull its current picks, saying the process “unintentionally provided favoritism to the incumbents.”

“It is now evident it was unfairly skewed,” Eubank wrote in a letter to VFW’s 1.6 million members on the VFW website.

As Barbara Boxer waved a VFW flag yesterday duriong her campaign stop, she only angered the VFW  membership.

In 2007, Boxer Was One Of Only 14 Senators To Vote Against Supplemental Funding For The Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan. 

Boxer’s voting record on defense issues should have made VFW PAC leadership wince.

Who could forget Boxer’s famous rebuke of a  Brigadier General Michael Walsh, during a committee hearing in June, for calling her ‘Ma’am’ rather than ‘Senator.’”  “Could you say “Senator” instead of “M’am?” It’s just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title.” Video

And, Boxer was one of only 25 senators who voted against condemning a MoveOn.Org ad against General David Petraeus.

Eubanks, preparing for another fight, wrote to members, “As determined in the VFW By-Laws, as the national officers, we have specific responsibilities to take definitive action when events can have a detrimental impact on the organization.  It is clear to us that the current situation now demands direct action; therefore, we are requesting the chairman and the directors of the Political Action Committee immediately rescind their endorsement actions.”

OCT. 13, 2010