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Army fiancee backs Democrat

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Corinne Gadzia’s voice choked as she looked out over the audience, trying to explain in her terms why she believes U.S. troops need to come home from Iraq.

As she stood at the podium, with presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama behind her ready to address the crowd here July 2, she said that her fiancée, an Army sergeant, is preparing to leave for his second tour in the war zone. Obama was at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, to give a speech on the value of service.

“I believe Senator Obama will bring my soldier home safely,” said the soon-to-be Army spouse, describing why this civilian was worthy of becoming commander in chief. “I believe we can respect him, because he respects us.”

Spouses and loved ones such as Gadzia, 24, will be crucial in Obama’s quest to sell himself as a better wartime leader than Sen. John McCain, who says his years of military experience make him more suited to lead the country.

But it can be an uneasy spot for people like Gadzia to be in, because she finds herself frequently at odds — politically — with her fiance’s Army buddies.

Gadzia, speaking to Military Times after Obama’s address, said her fiance is Sgt. Adán de la Peña of A Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. She said he’s proud of her for speaking up, but she still isn’t sure how he’ll vote. She recently graduated from this school with a degree in fine arts, and found herself becoming more politically active as the election campaign went on.

“He learned through me that this election really does directly affect him,” she said. “So I wanted to get involved and help out, and he really saw the value in that.”

She added: “He’s going to get registered to vote. I just don’t know what he’ll register as.”

Gadzia wasn’t the only person at the speech with a military affiliation. As Obama spoke, a handful of men with “Colorado Veterans” on their shirts were seated behind the stage. And after the event, an Air Force captain wearing a flight suit worked his way through the crowd to shake Obama’s hand.

“Thank you for your service,” Obama told the captain. As people filed out of the gymnasium, the captain covered his name tag with his hand.