If it was only the US Military who were eligible to vote in the November election, then Barack Obama should stop wasting supporters funds and bow out of the race entirely, because the overwhelming majority of the service is behind the war hero John McCain.
Service members from all grades, both active-duty and reservists, those who've been in combat and those who haven’t, all backed McCain by large margins in a Military Times poll, to about the same extent they supported President Bush in 2004.
The 68% to 23% results flavoring the Arizona Senator suggest Democrats have gained little ground in their attempts to appeal to a traditionally Republican voting bloc in campaign messages and legislative initiatives, such as the recent expansion of GI Bill benefits, experts said.
“The military has been perceived as a conservative Republican institution,” said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University and a special adviser to the National Security Council. “A lot of people thought that eight years of frustration with the Bush administration was going to undermine that,” he said. “This evidence suggests that it hasn’t undermined it as much as they thought, at least not yet.”
Army Sgt. 1st Class Derriel D. Collins, who is black, said he was influenced by McCain’s service record, though he acknowledges black friends question his decision. “I’m not going to give [my vote] to you just because you’re black,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that. John McCain went to war for this country, even though he had an admiral father who probably could have gotten him out of the service. He stuck it out five years in a prisoner of war camp. If that ain’t fortitude, showing your willingness to go all the way, I don’t know what the credentials are.”
Army Sgt. Timothy Coen said he will vote for McCain because that would be in keeping with his political views. “I just always voted conservative and on a lot of the issues at hand — gun rights and abortion — it just seemed like the more logical choice,” he said. Coen, who is white, said he is proud to see a minority running on the ticket of a major political party. “But we’d all be fools to think that the race card isn’t going to be played in this election,” he added. “As much as we’d like to say that discrimination or inequality is a thing of the past, it’s not.”
Daniel J. Becker, an enlisted airman, said he will vote for McCain because he has always leaned toward Republican candidates. “I’ve always felt that the Republican Party was interested in having a stronger military, which leads to a stronger America. That gives us a better voice in world politics and just makes us stand out as the world leaders that we are.”
Lt.Colonel "Whopper" Creedon said, "I've never taken much stock in these polls to be perfectly honest. I recall Sen. Kerry's "lead" in the civvy polls around this time 4 years ago and where is "President Kerry" now eh? Haw haw haw!! Seriously, McCain will be successful because he's been in "The S***" and he survived, that's the kind of man that's needed to pull the whole country out of it."
Source: Military Times
Service members from all grades, both active-duty and reservists, those who've been in combat and those who haven’t, all backed McCain by large margins in a Military Times poll, to about the same extent they supported President Bush in 2004.
The 68% to 23% results flavoring the Arizona Senator suggest Democrats have gained little ground in their attempts to appeal to a traditionally Republican voting bloc in campaign messages and legislative initiatives, such as the recent expansion of GI Bill benefits, experts said.
“The military has been perceived as a conservative Republican institution,” said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University and a special adviser to the National Security Council. “A lot of people thought that eight years of frustration with the Bush administration was going to undermine that,” he said. “This evidence suggests that it hasn’t undermined it as much as they thought, at least not yet.”Army Sgt. 1st Class Derriel D. Collins, who is black, said he was influenced by McCain’s service record, though he acknowledges black friends question his decision. “I’m not going to give [my vote] to you just because you’re black,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that. John McCain went to war for this country, even though he had an admiral father who probably could have gotten him out of the service. He stuck it out five years in a prisoner of war camp. If that ain’t fortitude, showing your willingness to go all the way, I don’t know what the credentials are.”
Army Sgt. Timothy Coen said he will vote for McCain because that would be in keeping with his political views. “I just always voted conservative and on a lot of the issues at hand — gun rights and abortion — it just seemed like the more logical choice,” he said. Coen, who is white, said he is proud to see a minority running on the ticket of a major political party. “But we’d all be fools to think that the race card isn’t going to be played in this election,” he added. “As much as we’d like to say that discrimination or inequality is a thing of the past, it’s not.”
Daniel J. Becker, an enlisted airman, said he will vote for McCain because he has always leaned toward Republican candidates. “I’ve always felt that the Republican Party was interested in having a stronger military, which leads to a stronger America. That gives us a better voice in world politics and just makes us stand out as the world leaders that we are.”
Lt.Colonel "Whopper" Creedon said, "I've never taken much stock in these polls to be perfectly honest. I recall Sen. Kerry's "lead" in the civvy polls around this time 4 years ago and where is "President Kerry" now eh? Haw haw haw!! Seriously, McCain will be successful because he's been in "The S***" and he survived, that's the kind of man that's needed to pull the whole country out of it."
Source: Military Times
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