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Delahunt in line for chairmanshipWins easily; investigations post awaits QUINCY - U.S. Rep. William Delahunt easily won a sixth term in the 10th Congressional District, which stretches from Quincy to Provincetown. “It’s heartening,” Delahunt said, noting that he defeated a previous challenge by the same percentage margin in 2004. “It was a confirmation of my record that the vote didn’t split to the right or to the left.” Delahunt, a Democrat from Quincy, garnered 63 percent of the vote, compared with Republican Jeff Beatty’s 30 percent. Independent Peter White earned 6 percent. Because his party took back control of the House, Delahunt, 65, stands to become chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee, a role he has said would allow him to lead investigations into possible wrongdoing in Iraq and elsewhere. He described the challenge by his two opponents as “more contentious than campaigns in the past.” Beatty, of Harwich, put up a scathing fight and eagerly seized upon a controversy involving Delahunt’s status as a veteran. Beatty called it “voter fraud” for Delahunt, a former Coast Guard reservist who never served on active duty, to request veteran’s designation on the primary ballot. State law defines a veteran as someone who spent 180 days on active duty. Delahunt served six months as a reservist in what is called active-duty training and was a member of the Coast Guard Reserve from 1963 to 1971, his discharge papers show. Calls to Beatty’s cell phone and his campaign manager were not returned last night. White, a hotel manager from Yarmouth, didn’t bow out quietly. “People are really conditioned to vote either Democrat or Republican,” White said. “It’s the same thing corporations want them to do.” White said he plans to continue campaigning for the impeachment of President Bush. “Corporate candidates plus corporate media equal corporate rule,” White said. “That’s the equation we have to change.” Delahunt said he hopes that both Democrats and Republicans begin to work in “a more collegial fashion.” “We can have disagreements on policies that are respectful and civil, and desist from ad hominem attacks,” Delahunt said. Jessica Van Sack may be reached at jvansack@ledger.com.
Delahunt calls for a change in law for veterans status Congressman William Delahunt vehemently defended his status as a veteran, saying that if he does not qualify under state law for the designation, then the law should be changed. In an interview with The Patriot Ledger editorial board, Delahunt denied allegations that he sought political gain in requesting in 2004 and 2006 to be identified on the primary ballot as a veteran. “There was no intention on my part to seek any gain,” he said. Under state law, only reservists who have served on active duty for 180 days can qualify for veteran status. Delahunt was not called to active duty. He spent six months on what was called active duty training, which state law appears to explicitly exclude from veteran status. The Quincy Democrat, first elected a decade ago, served in the Coast Guard as a reservist from 1963 to 1971, his discharge papers show. Delahunt said anyone who puts on a military uniform and serves should qualify as a veteran. “State law surely needs to be clarified,” Delahunt said. Delahunt is facing one of his most boisterous challenges to date from state Rep. Jeff Beatty of Harwich, a former special operations officer in the Army, and Peter A. White, a left-leaning hotel manager from Yarmouth. Delahunt said that while he considers himself a veteran, he has never sought benefits or touted such a status on his campaign literature. Because he did not have a challenger in the primary, Delahunt said it stands to reason that he would have nothing to gain by nudging up his military status. He estimated that a member of his staff who probably knew he had served in the Coast Guard might have listed him as a veteran on nomination papers without checking with anyone. Beatty has called for Delahunt’s ouster over the veteran status flap, calling it “voter fraud.” The two have vastly different views on a variety of topics, especially on how best to proceed with the war in Iraq. Beatty said he expects to report spending about $100,000 on this campaign. By contrast, Delahunt’s war chest has hovered at $1.8 million for several years. “If we have to spend $400,000 on television ads we’re corrupting the system,” Beatty said. While both Beatty and Delahunt favor withdrawal of U.S. troops, Beatty said the best solution is to give Iraqis what he believes they want and to some extent already have: a three-state federation controlled by the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Under that scenario, Beatty said he thinks 100,000 troops can be brought home in a year. Asked about a strategy in Iraq, Delahunt launched into an in-depth analysis to prove that the situation is too complicated to warrant a simple three-state solution. He said drawing three regions would not put an end to intra-Shiite violence. Leaving the Sunnis in the Sunni triangle, he said, would keep them bound in an area and economy based on “sand and dates, as well as other uneven distributions of resources that would further perpetuate chaos in the region. Delahunt said he feared the outcome would be “tantamount to genocide.” Reach Jessica Van Sack at jvansack@ledger.com.
State: Anyone can claim to be vet on ballotProof not needed; voting law excludes reserve training The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 26, 2006 QUINCY - Following a political group’s questioning of Congressman William Delahunt’s military status, state election officials yesterday said anyone can call himself or herself a veteran on the primary ballot. It is up to citizens to challenge any suspected misrepresentations, the officials said.
The Veterans Party of America has raised questions about Delahunt, a former Coast Guard reservist, claiming a veteran’s designation on the primary ballot. State law defines a veteran as someone who spent 180 days on active duty. Delahunt served six months as a reservist in what is called active-duty training. State law explicitly states that training does not qualify a person for veteran status. Quincy City Clerk Joseph Shea said records indicate that Delahunt began designating himself a veteran on the primary election ballot in 2004. On the 2002 and 1998 primary ballot, Delahunt was not listed as a veteran, Shea said. Candidates can list themselves as veterans on a primary ballot, not on a general-election ballot. The congressman and his staff did not answer repeated requests to provide a legal justification for Delahunt’s claiming of veteran status. Delahunt has not returned calls seeking comment on this issue since Tuesday. Delahunt, 65, has said publicly that he is proud of his military service. The Quincy Democrat, first elected a decade ago, served in the Coast Guard Reserve from 1963 to 1971, his discharge papers show. Brian McNiff, spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin, said candidates request a veteran’s designation on their nomination papers. The papers are signed by the candidate and submitted to the state. Candidates do not need to provide proof of their military background, but citizens can challenge the veteran’s designation before the Ballot Law Commission, McNiff said. McNiff said the commission relies on state law’s definition of a veteran. Two candidates are challenging Delahunt for the 10th Congressional District seat, Republican Jeff Beatty of Harwich and Peter White of Yarmouth, an independent. Beatty yesterday called for Delahunt to step down and accused the congressman of purporting to be a veteran in 2004 as a timely political tactic following the invasion of Iraq. Beatty provided his own military-discharge papers showing at least seven years as an active-duty Army officer and a variety of awards and recognitions, including a Purple Heart earned as a Delta Force special operations officer. On Tuesday, Delahunt’s campaign spokesman, P.J. O’Sullivan, said Delahunt could have been called to active duty at any time while he was a reservist, and he accused critics of demeaning the service of reservists. Delahunt has been endorsed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, O’Sullivan said.
Military skirmish Vets Party: Delahunt not a vetSays duty in reserve doesn’t qualify him A fledgling political group is challenging Congressman William Delahunt’s veteran status in what his camp is calling “a swift-boat-type” attack. The state leader of the Veterans Party of America called it “fraudulent” for Delahunt, a former U.S. Coast Guard reservist, to call himself a veteran because he never served on active duty. Delahunt, 65, has said publicly that he is proud of his military service. The Quincy Democrat, first elected a decade ago, served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a reservist from 1963 to 1971, his discharge papers show. He spent six months on what was called active duty training. The Veteran’s Party focused its criticism on Delahunt’s official request, submitted in June, to be listed on the ballot as a veteran. He appeared on the primary election ballot identified as a veteran. According to state law, to qualify for veteran status, reservists must have been called to regular active duty. Two candidates are challenging Delahunt for the 10th Congressional District seat, Independent Peter White of Yarmouth and Republican Jeff Beatty of Harwich. Beatty was quick to condemn the situation as “a disgrace.” Delahunt could not be reached. His campaign spokesman, P.J. O’Sullivan, said Delahunt could have been called to active duty any time during his reserve duty and accused critics of demeaning the service of reservists. He noted that Delahunt has been endorsed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “What we should be talking about is how (Delahunt) opened the first VA clinic in Massachusetts and how he advocated for better prescription drug coverage for veterans,” O’Sullivan said. The criticism came shortly after Delahunt delivered a speech in Boston to the New England Council, a business group. Delahunt, a member of the House International Relations Committee, said the country’s uneven contribution to the Iraq war effort constituted “a good argument for a draft.” “What’s the sacrifice that we’re doing for the war?” Delahunt said. “Has anyone here sacrificed a damn thing? ...Most of us have got tax cuts while I’m going to funerals. It’s a good argument for a draft. Everybody here would have, believe me, a much different perspective if it was your son or daughter going over there.” In his address yesterday, Delahunt said the Iraq war had heightened anti-American sentiments and emboldened terrorists. White, 51, an anti-war activist, said if Delahunt were truly against the war, he would vote against military spending, a strategy employed by war opponents in Congress during Vietnam. “He says he’s anti-war yet he voted in favor of the war,” said White, referring to Delahunt’s vote in favor of military spending. “Now he’s talking about a draft. He has not stood up to stop the Bush-Cheney war for oil.” Beatty, 54, a former member of the CIA, FBI and the U.S. military’s special operations unit called Delta Force, said Delahunt’s remarks were insulting. “It is insulting to veterans like myself that (Delahunt) talks about shared sacrifice when published reports today indicate that he has lied about his veteran’s status on the ballot,” Beatty said, referring to a Cape Cod blogger and a report on Marshfield radio station WATD. State law dictates that candidates can be designated on the ballot as a veteran during the primary election. Beatty also requested to be listed as a veteran. O’Sullivan said that Delahunt now plans to contact the Secretary of State to determine whether it was an error to call himself a veteran on the primary ballot. “If a mistake has been made, we’ll make sure it isn’t made in the future,” O’Sullivan said. The Veterans Party of America received official political designation from the Secretary of State’s Office in May 2004. Richard Hagert of Scituate, state representative for the Veterans Party of America, said he initially looked into candidates’ military records because Beatty’s service record seemed “too good to be true.” After finding that Delahunt had only served on active duty for the six-month training period, the party is now endorsing Beatty, said Hagert, 68, a former Republican. Hagert served in the U.S. Coast Guard as senior chief boatswain’s mate and ran Scituate’s Coast Guard station from 1968 to 1975. “It’s not our policy to endorse people unless they’re our people from Veterans Party, but in this situation I think we should take a stand,” Hagert said. The State House News Service contributed to this report. Jessica Van Sack may be reached at jvansack@ledger.com.
CANDIDATE’S MANTRA: BUSH MUST GOThe Patriot Ledger / Oct. 20, 2006
QUINCY - Independent candidate for Congress Peter A. White says the mass media have hidden the truth about the war in Iraq. White, 51, a hotel manager and self-proclaimed political activist, is rather cheery until he begins talking about the Bush administration, politicians and the media. “This is the most corrupt administration in U.S. history, by far,” he told The Patriot Ledger’s editorial board yesterday.
White, of Yarmouth, is running against U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, the Quincy Democrat who has been representing the 10th Congressional District for 10 years. Also in the race is Republican Jeff Beatty, 54, of Harwich. White, a former member of the Green-Rainbow Party, said he decided to run as an Independent when he realized that the public is sick of political parties in general. “They don’t want a third party,” he said. White has nothing but disdain for Republicans and Democrats. He postulates that even if the Democrats win a majority in Congress, the war in Iraq, which he opposes, and policies he despises will persist. “The window dressing may change a bit, but things will stay the same,” White said. The only way to induce meaningful change? “Impeach Bush-Cheney,” White said. If he is elected, the first thing he will do is bring articles of impeachment against Bush, White said. White and 44 other congressional candidates nationwide have joined the so-called Longhouse Coalition, which, on its Web site, describes itself as “a grass-roots movement to free America and the world of the despotic Bush regime and their corporatista cronies.” The group says it is committed to impeaching Bush, whom White calls “a war criminal.” As for the environment, White has a four-page “renewable economy plan” that he says would enable the region to substantially lessen its dependence on oil. The plan calls for each town to install five to 10 large wind turbines and put solar panels on as many buildings as possible. It is also intended to facilitate the formation of a regional cooperative that can design and build wind farms. The outline also calls for Congress to pass a resolution stating that the consumption of fossil fuels is the “moral equivalent of war.” “All Americans must understand that our nation’s addiction to foreign oil caused the war for oil in the Middle East and will result in more killing of innocent people, more terrorism against our people and more pollution and destruction of our planet,” the document states. In White’s mind, oil and the war in Iraq go hand in hand. “If there was no oil in Iraq, we would not be there,” White said. For more information on White’s candidacy, go to peterwhiteforcongress.com. Jessica Van Sack may be reached at jvansack@ledger.com.
On defensive: Challengers gang up on DelahuntThe Patriot Ledger / Oct. 13, 2006
PLYMOUTH - Coming face-to-face with challengers for the first time, U.S. Rep. William Delahunt denied ever calling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez his “excellent friend,” and fended off myriad accusations at an unusually testy debate. The Quincy Democrat, a 10-year House veteran, said recent tough times for the middle class have poised Americans for a shift in congressional party control that he would help usher in. Republican challenger Jeff Beatty, 54, a former FBI and CIA operative, countered with pointed jabs that harkened back to his campaign’s central assertion: that Delahunt doesn’t have the stuff to protect America as he can. Both Beatty and Independent candidate Peter A. White, 51, faulted Delahunt for not doing enough to wean the area off oil. Beatty said wind turbines should be built in the 10th Congressional District, though he stopped short of endorsing the controversial Cape Wind project. Delahunt, 65, said he wants to facilitate the use of a cleaner fuel alternative called E85, which cars can be modified to run on, and floated the idea of a pipeline from Quincy to Provincetown. He took Beatty to task for a previous statement in which he publicly accused Delahunt’s office of not returning calls to the family of a Plymouth Marine facing murder charges. Delahunt called Beatty’s statement “reckless” and said his office is in fact working with the Marine’s family. Beatty, a former agent with the FBI and CIA, and a former special forces commander, accused Delahunt of advocating for protection of enemy combatants more than soldiers. Delahunt, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, said he is against torture because it encourages violence against American soldiers. The debate was marked by a few bizarre moments. At one point, Beatty and White seemed to gang up on Delahunt after White’s admission that if he had to choose between the two other candidates, he’d favor Beatty. Later, Beatty passed a note to White that said “had enough of Delahunt,” a phrase that White then used to begin his closing statement. Beatty once again exhibited a penchant for stunts last night, taking out a miniature Venezuelan flag and placing it in front of Delahunt. Delahunt ignored the gesture and a member of the station crew eventually removed it. Beatty recently showed up at a Democratic event on the Cape to present Delahunt with a “welcome bouquet” of flowers. Asked to pinpoint the most critical issue facing the northern part of the district, White and Beatty replied generally. Beatty said the area’s biggest issue was an exodus of residents and qualified workers. However, research by the Massachusetts Area Planning Council and government research has projected unprecedented growth for the South Shore over the next decade. Both Delahunt and White support same-sex marriage, while Beatty said he is against gay marriage but supports civil unions. None of the candidates supports the war in Iraq. Delahunt called Beatty’s plan for a three-state federation in Iraq a “recipe for disaster” that would only work to strengthen an already existing and little-known alliance between the prime minister of Iraq and the Iranian president. Beatty said Chavez is a dangerous enemy, while Delahunt said the Venezuelan president may be “outrageous,” but he isn’t a threat to national security. Delahunt defended the deal he brokered with the Venezuelan government to allow low-income residents to obtain lower rates on home heating oil. “What is particularly outrageous is there are families here who wouldn’t have been able to get through the winter without it,” Delahunt said. White said oil deals like that were tantamount to corruption. But he said Chavez “had a point” when he called President Bush evil. If he were elected, White said his first order of business would be to bring articles of impeachment against Bush. The debate was co-sponsored by the Plymouth Area League of Women Voters, WATD and Plymouth Area Community Television. Jessica Van Sack may be reached at jvansack@ledger.com.
10th Congressional race: Delahunt gets jabs from right, left
The Patriot Ledger / Oct. 11, 2006
Independent candidate Peter A. White says U.S. Rep. William Delahunt is negligent for failing to back impeachment proceedings against President Bush. At the other end of the political spectrum, Republican candidate Jeff Beatty is critical of Delahunt’s ties to the socialist-leaning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. A 10-year veteran of the House from the 10th Congressional District, Delahunt, a Quincy Democrat, faces outspoken challenges from both political sides. The three candidates are scheduled to face off for the first time tomorrow in a forum on Plymouth Area Community Television. White, a hotel manager from Yarmouth, is a former Green-Rainbow Party member. “I consider myself an activist running for office,” he said. “I’m not a politician. That much I think is obvious.” He says he has nothing but disdain for the two-party system and says that both Republicans and Democrats are “corrupt beyond salvation.” White also criticizes Delahunt’s deal to secure home heating oil from Venezuela for low-income residents, but for different reasons. “He’s another status quo politician who doesn’t have the courage or integrity to stand up to the oil companies,” White said. “I think he knows Chavez a lot better than he knows the people of his district.” But White admits that it is he who needs a tutorial on certain local issues like the impending redevelopment of the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy and the South Weymouth Naval Air Base. He is quick to suggest that the shipyard could be home to a renewable energy source such as a windmill, an idea that has been floated for the area but has yet to gain traction. White made a futile attempt for the state House of Representatives in 2002, but is otherwise a political unknown. While this is also Republican Jeff Beatty’s first foray into politics, he is hardly a stranger to the spotlight. Beatty, of Harwich, appears frequently on the major networks as a security analyst and proclaims himself to be the only person to have ever served in the Army’s Delta Force, the CIA and FBI. Christine Sullivan, Beatty’s campaign manager, said he was giving an out-of-town lecture and was not available to comment. Asked why he had been unavailable earlier this week, Sullivan replied, “Because he’s running for Congress.” Beatty made headlines on Cape Cod recently when he showed up to the opening of a Democratic headquarters in Dennis to give Delahunt a “welcome bouquet” of flowers. Serving in the elite Special Operations Delta Force in 1983, Beatty helped rescue hundreds of American students in Grenada, Sullivan said. Then he was recruited by the FBI to serve as a special agent for the hostage rescue team in 1984, after which he became a CIA operative in Europe and the Middle East, according to his campaign. Beatty, owner of an international security firm, has issued statements saying that he thinks Iraq should be divided into a three-part federation with Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the center and Shia in the south. “The terrorists I have met and worked against eat people like Bill Delahunt for breakfast,” Beatty told a Cape Cod newspaper last week. “They see them as weak and ineffective.” Delahunt dismisses the criticisms of his challengers. He says that even the Bush administration favored the deal he brokered with Chavez because it lowered the cost of fuel for low-income homeowners. As for Chavez’s remark likening Bush to the “devil,” Delahunt said he, too, was taken aback. “Clearly I found his remarks as repugnant as everyone did,” Delahunt said. “One is critical of my support for President Bush; the other is criticizing me for not being tough enough,” Delahunt said. Delahunt said the calls to impeach Bush are simply “rhetoric.” He touted his record, and said he is particularly enthusiastic about tourism initiatives to market Quincy and Cape Cod as the so-called Cultural Coast and his role as a chief proponent of increasing ferry service along the South Shore. But he said he tries not to take his incumbency for granted. “You still campaign hard and solicit support,” he said. The $1.8 million Delahunt has collected for the campaign dwarfs anything his opponents have raised. White, who won’t take money from political action committees or corporations, has a mere $3,000. Beatty has spent all but about $8,000 of the $49,000 in his coffers, about 40 percent of which is his own money.
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