Charles Brown (California)

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Charles D. "Charlie" Brown

Born	1949 Iowa
Occupation	United States Air Force Politics

Charles D. "Charlie" Brown (born 1949) is a retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel and was the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 2006 election for California's 4th congressional district.

1 Life and career
2 Congressional campaign
3 References
4 External links
- 4.1 Official
- 4.2 Articles

[edit] Life and career

Brown was born in Iowa and grew up in small midwestern farm towns. He received his commission after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1972 and served 26 years in the military. He retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1998, having served in every armed conflict from Vietnam to the Gulf War.

During the Vietnam War, Brown flew rescue helicopter missions in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia and participated in the evacuations of Saigon, Phnom Penh, and the Mayagüez incident, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He later flew fixed-wing reconnaissance missions in support of operations in Panama, Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, and other countries. After the Gulf War, he served in Air Force intelligence and was assigned to Saudi Arabia where he coordinated surveillance flights over Iraq’s "no-fly zones". He also monitored worldwide airborne reconnaissance while assigned to Beale Air Force Base.

Brown holds a master's degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a California teaching credential. He was elected to two terms on the Supervisory Committee of the Sierra Central Credit Union and two terms as vice president of the Roseville Police Association. And he worked for eight years on the professional staff of the Roseville Police Department.

Brown and his wife, Jan, have two children. Jan is also a military veteran, having served in the Air Force Medical Service. Their son, Jeff, is an Air Force Captain, who is serving his fourth rotation in Iraq. And their daughter, Stacey, is a graduate of UC Irvine.

[edit] Congressional campaign

Main article: California 4th congressional district election, 2006

Brown ran as a fiscal conservative, calling for balancing the federal budget and emphasizing policy issues and personal character over party affiliation. He had himself been a life-long Republican until he felt that the party’s leadership abandoned its core values of security, integrity, prosperity, and conservation.

Brown defined his number-one issue as "the Constitution, including the Second Amendment" and questioned whether the Republican leaders in the George W. Bush administration and the 109th Congress genuinely believed in individual liberties in light of policies allowing spying without a warrant on American citizens; or in small government given huge and ineffective bureaucracies; or in fiscal responsibility having run up huge deficits.[1] He characterized the incumbent, John Doolittle, as being among extremists who had taken over the party and allowed corporations to binge on federal contracts in the midst of a war while underfunding the Veterans Administration and neglecting the needs of middle-class families.

As Doolittle faced an ongoing federal investigation into congressional corruption scandals, including ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and defense contractor Brent Wilkes, Brown emphasized the need for ethical representation in Congress. Promising transparency in government service if elected, he further pledged to publicly disclose anyone whom he would have met with to discuss legislation, including lobbyists.

A social moderate, Brown identified his other top priorities as: protecting Social Security; keeping American jobs at home; stopping out-of-control deficit spending; strengthening national security while bringing the war in Iraq to a quick and secure resolution; supporting strong, safe schools; ensuring clean water and air; and making good healthcare accessible to everyone. Brown is pro-choice, saying, "the government doesn’t get to make personal decisions for Americans, no matter how much they might like to do so.... I don’t have to approve. I don’t even have to understand. It’s not about me. It’s about individual liberties."[2]

Citing the fact that the incumbent Doolittle received less than 42% of the total votes cast in the June 6, 2006, primaries, Brown characterized the result as being a strong majority vote for change. And Doolittle, who had won past elections with more than 65% of the vote, did go on to win the general election with less than a majority (49%) in the three-way race with Brown (46%) and Libertarian Dan Warren (5%), leading Brown to declare that, "No Republican will ever take the 4th District for granted again."

Brown declined to rule out a rematch in 2008 but allowed that he would see no need to run if Doolittle showed in the meantime that he was taking care of his district.