Actually, he didn't join for strictly political reasons. He felt a bit of guilt that middle American kids who didn't have the advantages that he and his friends had were serving disproportionately to them.
From your link..........................................
And things really started to shift for me when I visited Iowa. I was a campaign volunteer and knocking on doors in a low-income area of South Central Iowa. I was with a couple of old friends from Harvard. It was just really striking how many teenagers from these rural towns were headed straight to the military as soon as they were old enough.
And it prompted some soul searching for us. I got to thinking about how many of my Harvard classmates had served and there weren't many. Of course, I was raised on some of the legends of the Kennedys and other figures from previous generations, when actually going to a place like Harvard meant it was almost assumed that you would serve. And by the time I was there, the reverse was true.
And so it prompted me to ask myself, "If teenagers in rural communities are routinely stepping up and serving, why have I not been wearing my country's uniform?" And I saw the Reserve as an opportunity to continue to have my career in the private sector. I was in management consulting at the time, but also be doing some kind of public service.
And, the reason he joined the Reserves is because he wanted to keep his private sector career, and being in the Reserves would allow him to do that.
That being said, at least he served. Out of all the 18 to 35 yr. olds in this country, only about 30 percent of them are even qualified to enlist. Mayor Pete beat the odds, because he qualified. And, out of all those people who are qualified, only around 1 percent of them actually enlist. He enlisted, was serving, and even deployed to the ME.
How much time and how many war zones have you served in? Me? Over 20 years of service and 4 war zones.