Residual Forces

Here’s a little to chew on about where Veterans will fit in to this election. Surprise, it is not what the Obama supporting “journalists” are saying. 

 

The presidential candidates’ visits to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Orlando today and tomorrow raise the question of just what the “veteran vote” looks like – including to what extent being a veteran actually informs vote preferences.

Most voter groups exist via political or religious affinity or demographic characteristics – independents, blacks, Catholics, married women. With the exception of career officers, veterans seem to have less of a common denominator, aside from the fact of their service.

And for most, that service was long-ago. Among registered voters, veterans on average are 58 years old, 11 years older than non-veterans. Veterans are twice as likely to be senior citizens – 35 percent, compared with 17 percent of non-veterans. And just 2 percent of veterans are under 30, compared with 17 percent of non-vets.

Veterans, who account for 12 percent of registered voters overall, stand out in other ways. Ninety-one percent are men. Eighty-four percent are white (compared with 76 percent of non-veterans). Veterans are 12 points more likely than other adults to describe themselves as conservatives, 9 points less apt to be liberals, 5 points more likely to be Republicans and a substantial 13 points less apt to be Democrats.

If that sounds like a John McCain group, it is: Veterans favored McCain over Barack Obama in our last poll by 58-29 percent, one of McCain’s best groups.

Eighty-three percent of veterans also said McCain would be a good commander-in-chief (11 points more than among non-veterans), while just 38 percent said the same about Obama. And veterans trust McCain over Obama to handle the Iraq war by 59-30 percent.

I’ve met many veterans lately who are showing up for the first time to actively get involved in politics. They are showing up for John McCain.