Did anyone else catch this on ABC news last nite? I ran across the link on HuffPo today http://abcnews.go.com/... I agree with Martha Raddatz ; these soldiers were surprising ...
PFC Jeremy Slate said he supported Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., because of his stated intention to pull out of Iraq right away."That would be nice," Slate said, "I'd like to be home, yea."
Spc. Imus Loto said he supported Obama. "It will be something different. But he's out there and he'll probably support us a lot more."
By support, Loto meant pulling out troops. "Pull me out, too." he said.
Spc. Joseph Lindsesdt, who is from Alaska, said he was watching for consistency of the candidates' views. "The steadiness of the candidate, whether they've changed their views, constantly, over time, or with political wind, as I like to put it."
To that end, Lindsesdt's pick is Obama. "The fact that he's followed his views, regardless of what they have been [sic] and whether I've agreed with them or not, sometimes. But he's been steady the entire way."
When asked if he was concerned about criticism that Obama had less political experience than some of the other candidates, the battle-weary soldier replied, "No, I think being a decent leader doesn't have to do anything with experience much."
There were some interviewed that supported Hillary, but they only had one soldier who supported McCain and his reason was the title of this diary.
The thing I found most interesting was how these soldiers arrived at their views. One of the Hillary supporters basically said that she was supporting Clinton because her husband did a good job when he was in office . Another said that Hillary would bring a gradual drawdown and that's why he supported her.
But I was amazed to hear the country music playing in the background , Dick Cheney having just left the stage , and a female soldier saying she supports Obama because he represents a change.
The next time someone talks about "electibility" or "supporting the troops by letting them win" or any of the other talking points that get floated everyday , I'll think back on this video . I diaried this because I think that more people should see the video and spread it around .
Sorry this isn't much of a diary, and I hope no one else has published one concerning this report yet, as I don't want to be redundant (if anyone has , I'll be happy to delete this) . In all the coverage of the testimony today , I just wanted to bring this to your attention.
I'll leave you with this exchange about Barack...
Martha Raddatz "He wants to pull out of Iraq "
Spc Imus Loto
"He'll pull me out too."