 A trial balloon is being floated for a potential Democratic US Senate candidate to run in 2012 for the open seat being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Retired Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, a native of Rio Grande City, has been courted by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee as confirmed by DSCC Chair Sen. Patty Murray and former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes.
Sanchez was the top military commander in Iraq during 2003-04 under former President George W. Bush before being effectively forced out of the job in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. While Sanchez will not confirm or deny his intent to run, he gave the following response to the press.
"I would describe myself as during my military career as supporting the president and the Constitution," Sanchez said. "After the military, I decided that socially, I'm a progressive, a fiscal conservative and a strong supporter, obviously, of national defense."
"It's my views and my history, having grown up in south Texas, depending on social programs and assistance, that America has a responsibility to its people," he said.
While Sanchez openly admits that the Abu Ghraib scandal was responsible for ending his leadership of the Iraq operation, he was cleared by Army investigators and criticized President Bush's handling of the war in his 2008 book, "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story."
Sanchez would enter a mostly empty Democratic field where only 30 year old Sean Hubbard has announced any intention of running for the open Senate seat. |
