Vince Micco

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Vincent "Vince" Micco[1] was in the U.S. Army Reserve "for nine years when he was called to active duty in February 2003 shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq"[2][3] and served a "twelve month tour of duty in Iraq starting in March of 2003",[4] working "mostly in the Sunni Triangle as a counter-intelligence officer."[2]

In 2006, after being recruited by the GOP,[5]Micco "unsuccessfully challenged" five-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Steve Rothman,[6] receiving only 28% of the vote in New Jersey's 9th Congressional District.[7]Micco ran as a "pro-life, pro-lower taxes veteran of the war in Iraq who is willing to say that we should not abandon the people of the Middle East to Fascism."[8] He is currently 3rd Vice President of the Rutherford, N.J., Republican Club.[9]

On August 28, 2007, identifying himself as "Sergeant",[3] Micco announced in an email that he is "leading New Jersey's chapter" of the pro-war in Iraq Republican front group Vets for Freedom, "which is trying to counter the message of anti-war protests," Micco wrote.[6]

Political campaigns

2008 Congressional Republican candidate

George Ajjan wrote June 8, 2007, about the strengths and weaknesses of Micco as a candidate for the 2008 congressional election:[10]

  • Pros:
  • conservative credentials - Few would challenge Micco's dedication to conservative causes. He's a respected veteran and the "RINO hunters" around the county would find little to target.
  • party involvement and loyalty - Micco has been a loyal Republican foot soldier for years, a Bergen County Young Republican officer (when the group was functional), plus he took on Steve Rothman in 2006.
  • youth - Micco is young, and thus his selection would represent somewhat of a changing of the guard and an investment in the up-and-coming generation of Republican leadership, dovetailing nicely with the wins of Scott Rumana and Jay Webber, as well as the promotions of O'Toole and Bill Baroni to name a few.
  • Cons
  • fundraising - some would suggest that Micco did not rock the boat raising money for his 2006 congressional run, and therefore he wouldn't be successful raising money as Chairman. While this is true, it reflects more the dynamics of the race than it does Micco's abilities - he would have raised much more than that had he chosen to run in D36.

2006 Congressional Republican candidate

Campaign profile: Micco "[a]ttended college but did not graduate"; was an "Honor graduate of U.S. Army Intelligence Academy" and was a "Sergeant in the Army who served in a counterintelligence unit"; is a "former executive director of the Bergen County Republican Organization" but "has never held public office."[11]

His now inactive website states:[12]

"Micco, who has been active in Bergen County Republican politics for years and served two terms as the head of the Bergen County Young Republicans, said he has the endorsement of the county Republican organization.

Micco "said he decided to run after Rothman called for a rapid pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying that the war had hurt the military, the war on terrorism and the economy."[12]

Compared 9/11 to Pearl Harbor

At the end of December 2006, the Iraq death toll for U.S. military surpassed that of September 11, 2001. Micco "compared the Sept. 11th attacks to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor."[13]

"'We surely lost more people in any given battle in World War II than we lost on Dec. 7,' he said. 'President Bush said it was going to be a long war. It's going to be a long war like the Cold War. Iraq is just one battlefront in the wider war on terrorism and there have been a lot of successes.'"

On leaving Iraq

"'It would be a grave mistake for America to turn and leave when we are driving al-Qaeda out of key areas and creating safe areas for Iraqis,' Micco said ... 'Retreating now would give al-Qaeda the safe-haven it seeks and embolden our enemies to launch new attacks against Americans at home and abroad.'

"Micco called Vets for Freedom a 'pro-victory' group and criticized 'defeatist activites' sponsored by moveon.org, which he said 'are organized by paid political organizers, often sent in from out of state.'"[6]

Profiles

Micco is a mortgage banker from Rutherford, N.J., at the Kearny Federal Savings Bank of Wood Ridge, N.J.[14]

Contact information

URL: http://www.miccoforcongress.com

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ "The Green Papers: New Jersey 2006 Midterm Election, TheGreenPapers.com, CD9: Vincent "Vince" Micco.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Election 2006: Vince Micco, CNN, accessed August 31, 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Xpatriated Texan, "Class or Crass, NJ-9 Has a Choice," The Daily Kos, June 22, 2006.
  4. ↑ Bill Albers, "Mounting uphill battles against incumbent Congressmen," PoliticsNJ.com (TomWyka.com), April 4, 2006.
  5. ↑ Wally Edge, "GOP recruits Iraq veteran to challenge Rothman," PoliticsNJ.com, March 28, 2006.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Herb Jackson, "Rutherford vet leads 'pro-victory' group," Capital Games, August 28, 2007.
  7. ↑ "State Results," BIPAC.net, last updated November 10, 2006.
  8. ↑ Bret Schundler (Former Jersey City, N.J. Mayor), "Want Republican candidates and officeholders to act like Republicans?" Hudson County Politics, posted August 9, 2006.
  9. ↑ Officers for 2007, Rutherford's Voice, accessed August 31, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Defeat for the politics of hate," AJJAN.com, June 8, 2007.
  11. ↑ "9th District," NorthJersey.com, October 29, 2006.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "July 4th Show on Wide Awakes Radio; Key to the Victory," Cao's Blog, June 30, 2006.
  13. ↑ "Iraq toll passes that of 9/11," Military Families Speak Out, December 28, 2006.
  14. ↑ Vince Micco, Kearny Federal Savings Bank, Wood Ridge, NJ, ActiveRain.com.

External articles

By Vince Micco

About Vince Micco

External resources

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