Today's liberal democrat famously hates (or, as Bill Clinton put it, loathes) the military.  Because military officers take an oath to protect the United States, they pretty much loathe  liberal democrats right back. However, being a self loathing people, liberals covet the cloak of patriotism that help them win elections (outside of  Northern California, or Olympia WA), and the opportunity to feel (almost) good about themselves. When the occasional ex-military man with name recognition declares for the  Democrats,  even outspoken America haters will rush to bathe in the aura of "respectability,"  which is how General Wesley Clark almost grabbed the 2004 democratic presidential nomination ( losing out to a more famous war hero, Field Marshal Admiral John Kerry).  This trend can only  continue, so that one day all it will take for ambitious people to be a democratic nominee is the merest brush with normalcy.  I can see the campaign slogans ..