Sowers on offense in defensive year

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Tommy Sowers, a Democrat running against Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), has a message for his national party as they brace themselves for expected losses this fall.

Candidates that fit profiles like his provide “a nice counter-narrative to say we’re on offense this year, that we’re not just playing defense, because two millennia of warfare tells you you get your ass kicked on defense,” Sowers declared in an interview with POLITICO.

In an election year where congressional Democrats are scrambling to protect their vulnerable incumbents and have just a handful of pick-up opportunities, Sowers, 34, has emerged as one of party’s most promising recruits.

He’s got a sterling resume to go with the hard-charging persona: Reared in the southeast Missouri district, attended Duke on an ROTC scholarship, picked up a masters degree at the London School of Economics, served as an Army officer in Kosovo and Iraq and returned to teach at West Point.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36088.html