Was Anthony Zinni A Democrat?

If you've read my original Draft Zinni plea, you know that I've been pondering why Zinni has labeled himself a "Luger-Hagel Republican." I guessed in that piece that Zinni was one of the "security voters" who switched parties under Nixon and Reagan because they saw the Democrats as weak on defense.

Today I found the first clue that Zinni may well have been Democrat. In this editorial discussing a speech Zinni gave last week at Lindon B. Johnson's library.

Zinni, by the way, acknowledged the presence in his audience Tuesday evening of Lady Bird Johnson and both of her daughters. He said that, as a college student, he had worked for the Johnson-Humphrey presidential campaign in 1964.

So, it appears Zinni became a Republican sometime after Johnson became president. Would this make it easier to convince him to switch back to the Democratic Party? I hope so, but even then there's the bigger problem of convincing him to actually run for office.