Schmidt made the Iraq War an issue in the race. She declared on WCET-TV's "Forum" that "9/11 was a wakeup call. We lost our innocence" and praised the Bush foreign policy. "The foundation of democracy that has been planted in Afghanistan and Iraq", she said, has inspired reforms in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. Schmidt always appeared in public with a button in her lapel containing a photograph of Matt Maupin, the only prisoner of war of the Iraq campaign. Hackett did not mince words about Iraq or President Bush. He told "The New York Times" Bush was "a chicken hawk" for pursuing the war after having avoided military service in the Vietnam War. "The Times" also quoted him as saying Bush was "the greatest threat to America." Hackett in the West Union debate contrasted what President Bush had said in the 2000 presidential debates to current events. "Guess what folks? We're nation-building!"