On July 28, CNN anchor Daryn Kagan asked her guest, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Steve Brozak -- who is running for Congress in New Jersey and is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention on July 28 -- why he, as “a former and a just recent retired Marine,” is “not a Republican.”

From the July 28 edition of CNN Live Today:

KAGAN: The Democrats highlight another potential star tonight, this one a freshly retired Marine. Steve Brozak is running for New Jersey's seventh congressional district, and he joins me from the Fleet Center in Boston this morning. I feel like I should say lieutenant colonel. Good morning.

BROZAK: Good morning. Thank you for having me here.

KAGAN: And I know the idea is to replace that rank with that of congressman, just ahead. I have to say, when I was reading about you, my first thought is why -- and maybe this is a stereotype, but why isn't a former and a just recent retired Marine -- why are you not a Republican?

BROZAK: Well, I was a Republican for twenty years, but unfortunately the party left me behind. The values that I held -- strong defense, balanced budgets, things that the Republican Party once espoused -- the Democratic Party has taken up the leadership position in.

KAGAN: I have to imagine that that was not an easy decision for you to make.