A picture of a Marine dressed in uniform at Larimer County's Republican Lincoln Day Dinner has touched off a firestorm from national political writers and Web bloggers who say the party is using the military as public relations props.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan ran the photograph on Saturday of U.S. Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave introducing Marine Sgt. Brandon Forsyth, dressed in uniform, at the organization's Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday night.

A Department of Defense directive, however, prohibits active military personnel from participating in partisan political meetings while in uniform. Forsyth was one of two uniformed soldiers at the event.

Forsyth could not be reached for comment Monday.

The directive also states that in ambiguous cases, active-duty soldiers are to avoid any activities that seemingly associate the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security directly or indirectly with partisan political activity.

The Larimer County Republican organization said that because it merely honored the soldiers instead of requiring their participation, they did not violate the code.

"(The soldiers) were not there endorsing a candidate, and they were not speaking," said Nancy Hunter, chairwoman of the Larimer County Republicans. Hunter said the organization seeks out Iraq and Afghanistan veterans each year to honor at the Lincoln Day Dinner. Forsyth attended the dinner as someone's date and was asked at the last minute to be honored, Hunter said.

"I am very proud we had them there," Hunter said. "I'm very proud of any military we'd have there."

Harry Campbell, commander of Post 1781 of the Fort Collins Veterans of Foreign War, said the VFW discourages members from taking partisan positions while in uniform but ultimately thinks the soldiers at the Lincoln Day dinner did nothing wrong.

Musgrave, however, should have known better, said John Jones, chairman of the Larimer County Democratic Party.

"It's clear to anyone with common sense this is an attempt to get votes," Jones said.

Musgrave, who served as the mistress of ceremony, was only handed the agenda at the dinner, Hunter said.

"The best info the congresswoman received is there is no violation in honoring Iraqi veterans, and that's what happened," said Guy Short, Musgrave's chief of staff. "It's unfortunate people are trying to make political hay out of an attempt to honor veterans of the Iraq war."

Political reporter Joshua Micah Marshall, who writes for the Washington Monthly and is a columnist for The Hill - a weekly newspaper covering Congress - pointed to the incident as an example of the White House trying to use "uniformed military personnel as props at Republican political rallies."

Other blogs such as truthdig.com and America blog.blogspot also criticized the incident.

In his Feb. 9 column, conservative columnist Robert Novak wrote that county Republican leaders were arranging local speeches by active duty military personnel about their experiences in Iraq.

Jones said he believed Republicans were, indeed, doing so to appeal to the patriotic side of Americans. He said Musgrave should, instead, vote for bonuses and medical benefits for military members.

"I think there's a proactive movement to literally take photos of themselves with soldiers," Jones said.

"What I find disgusting about all of this is (Republicans) are trying to get re-elected because they know they're in trouble, and they're running behind our soldiers to do it."

The question of whether Larimer County Republicans honored the soldiers as part of a right-wing conspiracy has Hunter dismayed.

"I don't know how much lower someone can go than to make a mountain out of a mole hill," Hunter said.

Neither party should ever use the military as a prop, said Rep. Angie Paccione, D-Fort Collins, who is running against Musgrave in the 4th District Congressional race.

"It shouldn't matter if (soldiers) are Republican or Democratic because they pledge allegiance to the flag," Paccione said. "That's why the code is there, that's why it's inappropriate and that's why it shouldn't be done."

Paccione emphasized, however, that while this might have violated military code, she doesn't want this to distract her, her opponent or Colorado residents from political and social issues at hand.

Originally published March 7, 2006

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