LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - Democrat Jared Golden, who served in the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, wields a bolt-action rifle in a television ad in his campaign against two-term Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
Golden accuses Poliquin of taking potshots. Then he hits the bullseye.
The 36-year-old Democrat is following a political playbook that Democrats have adopted nationwide in their quest to claim the House majority this fall.
Golden is one of nearly 200 veterans, including 61 Democrats, who are running for Congress, according to With Honor, a super PAC. Most, like Golden, are eager to highlight their military service and pro-gun platforms in regions Trump carried two years ago.
Democrats like Golden are balancing an embrace of gun ownership with a populist economic message railing against Trump's signature tax cut as giveaways to the wealthy and efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act, while promising to protect Social Security and Medicare.
It's the same message that helped Democrats score an unlikely special election victory in Republican-leaning western Pennsylvania this year.
FILE - This panel of file photos show U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2017, left, and state Rep. Jared Golden in 2018, right, in Maine. Golden will challenge Poliquin for the 2nd District Congressional seat in the November 2018 general election. (AP Photos/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
In Maine, the 64-year-old Poliquin is accusing his challenger of deploying camouflage to hide his liberal views. "Jared Golden is really going out of his way to hide the fact that he's a young radical with a socialist agenda," he told The Associated Press.
"No one believes that I'm a socialist," Golden shot back in an interview. "It's a
