The former Air Force Chief of Staff visited the Lakes Region on Monday as part of a campaign trip that has him supporting Senator Barack Obama as the only candidate with the "chops" to lead the country.
Retired Gen. Tony McPeak — a self-described moderate Democrat who once served as a prominent supporter of President George Bush — says the current administration has left the country in the dark about a war he and Obama are hoping American troops will be out of by the end of 2008.
On Monday McPeak, a top foreign policy adviser to Obama who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War, made stops at the New Hampshire Veteran's Home in Tilton and at a house party in Franklin to stump for a candidate he says he is supporting more for his character than his political affiliation.
"He is head and shoulders about the rest (of the candidates) in every measurable dimension," said McPeak, during an interview with The Citizen.
The longtime military man is no stranger to the campaign trail having supported several presidential hopefuls both Republican and Democrat since he retired from service in 1994.
McPeak served as the Oregon state chairman for Bob Dole's 1996 run for office and in 2000 worked as the chair of a veteran's organization in that state working to get George W. Bush elected. He worked for Howard Dean in the 2004 election and eventually supported John Kerry.
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