Breazeale Clears the Air

White Lake, NC- Political campaigns have come to include too many personal attacks and smears. Some have likened running for public office to enduring a public medical examination.

As an effort to derail any possible misunderstandings or rumors, candidates now announce many details of their private lives, things that most citizens would leave out of their everyday discussions. An example of this is Sen. McCain's recent revelation that as a young naval officer he visited strip clubs.

Will Breazeale, candidate for Congress in the 7th North Carolina District, has decided to release some details of his life rather than have others speculate. It is already public knowledge that he is divorced and has a 15 year old daughter. Divorce and child support are often areas that generate curiosity. He stated that “As often happens, a court is involved in determining how much child support I should pay, this came about after my income jumped because of a promotion with my airline and after spending a year in the war zone with no income tax on my Army pay. We are in negotiations as to what the new level should be.” He said it should be resolved amicably in the near future and that his daughter has been campaigning with him.

He went on to say that divorce involving members of the military is too high. Serving the country, often over seas and physically separated from spouses and children is stressful and too often leads to divorce. Before his two latest deployments he had moved himself to his current home in White Lake, NC in order to be near enough to his ex-wife so that they could share custody of their daughter. Of course when he deployed for two out of four years to the Iraq war zone, shared custody had to end and child support questions were inevitable.

Commenting on other topics sometimes examined under the microscope of political campaigning, he listed several points:

• He holds a Secret Security Clearance with the US Army, the latest review and renewal being January 2008.
• He passed an FBI clearance required of all airline pilots following 9/11.
• He passed further background checks for his position as a Major in the Army Reserve and as a volunteer with the Bladen County Correctional Center.
• He has never been convicted of a crime.
• He has never been found in contempt of court.
• He was awarded the Bronze Star medal by the US Army for service during his recent deployment.

Finally, he acknowledged, “I did have my pilot's license suspended once upon a time for 90 days for flying too low over my home of White Lake. We all have to make some mistakes!”