US Military Points the Way for 2008 Election

As I drove home today, a soldier called in to the station that I was listening to, and talked about how our troops were overwhelmingly conservative Republicans. That got me thinking. What do the people who sacrifice the most for our nation think- what type of values and leaders do the men of our armed services support.

According to the "Military Times Poll", conducted by the publishers of the 'Army Times' and the independent newspapers of the three other major services, found that 57 per cent of the active-duty military identified themselves as Republicans, including 67% of our officers. Twenty-nine per cent of the military respondents either said they were independent or declined to answer the question, and 14% said that they were Democrats. The survey found that 53 per cent of active- duty personnel described themselves as either "very conservative" or "conservative".

This article talks about how Bush and Kerry battled over the large slice of the US voters that are either veterans or currently serving- 27 million military veterans account for one in five voters, and there is another 1.4 million active military personnel, plus 1.2 million National Guard members and reservists. Who did they support in 2004? Republican George W. Bush, by a margin of 55 to 37 percent.

This article details in depth the 2000 attempt by Democrats to disenfranchise military voters, including attempts to challenge absentee votes from those who were servicing overseas. They would only do this if these voters were mostly Republican. It's an older controversy, but demonstrates that the values and beliefs and ideas of the Democratic party are not the same as those as our troops and soldiers and defenders of freedom.

And, this more current poll shows that While troops deployed abroad might be giving more money to Barack Obama, a poll released today says that John McCain will get the vast majority of votes from members of the military and veterans. According to Gallup, McCain leads Obama 56 percent to 34 percent, with 11 percent expressing no opinion or picking someone else. That is a margin of 22%!

There is something to all of this. Members of the military are willing to sacrifice everything for America. Members of our military are doing good works- building schools, passing out backpacks, and rebuilding countries, all while minding to their military duties and fighting bad guys. Members of our military believe in teamwork, responsibility, hard work, discipline, and doing what is right. I'm not a veteran, but I am proud of them, and honor them, and when they overwhelmingly vote in one direction, it should be noted and respected.