Last night at Council for a Livable World's VETPAC reception, I met and spoke at length with two impressive candidates running for Congress: Jill Morgenthaler running in the Illinois 6th, and Jay McGovern running in the Florida 4th.

Morgenthaler is a former Army Colonel who served in Iraq and believes "that it's time to find the responsible way to bring our troops home from Iraq, and turn Iraq over to the Iraqis."

McGovern is a former Navy helicopter pilot who believes that "Orderly and promptly withdrawing from Iraq is a necessary part of our [global war on terror] victory strategy. The Iraqis have to take responsibility for their own governance and find a path toward political reconciliation."

Both of these candidates told me the same thing: It is time for Democrats to step up to the plate and own the national security issue. Democrats have been right on all of the major foreign policy decisions over the past eight years, but the party still cedes the issues of defense, security, and terrorism to the Republicans. Morgenthaler and McGovern, with their military backgrounds, emphasized to me that it is time for Democrats to start forcefully talking about how they have been right on the issues.

In downticket races against Republican incumbents, like the ones being run by these candidates, Democrats with military experience - such as Morganthaler and McGovern - possess the knowledge and experience to take the debate on national security straight to the Republicans.