http://www.stripes.com/...
This ought to send tremors down the spines of the GOP. Contrary to "established" wisdom, and in large part due to the catastrophic failures of the Bush Administration, the GOP can no longer count on the U.S. Military as a willing pawn in its electoral gamesmanship.
If the election were held today, Obama would win the veteran vote by as much as seven points over Romney, higher than his margin in the general population.
The figures (broken down more
here) are somewhat surprising, except when you stop and consider the fact that the military members surveyed are made up in large part by those servicemen and women who actually had to serve as experiments in Bush's disastrous schemes. Even in military-friendly red states such as South Carolina, the considered reaction to a decade's sacrifice in Iraq is one of general disgust and distrust of GOP-style, opportunistic warmongering:
The GOP's heated rhetoric, aimed at the party's traditional hawks, might be expected to resonate with veterans. Yet in interviews in South Carolina, a military-friendly red state, many former soldiers expressed anger at the toll of a decade of war, questioned the legitimacy of George W. Bush's Iraq invasion, and worried that the surge in Afghanistan won't make a difference in the long run.
"We looked real cool going into Iraq waving our guns," said McDowell, 50, who retired from the 82nd Airborne Division in November with a Legion of Merit and two Bronze Stars. "But people lost their lives, and it made no sense."
Less than one in three veterans who actually served in Iraq share the Republican Party's seemingly boundless enthusiasm for it:
The Disaffection with the politics of shock and awe runs deep among men and women who have served in the military during the past decade of conflict. Only 32 percent think the war in Iraq ended successfully, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. And far more of them would pull out of Afghanistan than continue military operations there.
The Stars and Stripes article notes that the President is no longer faced with running against a decorated war hero (McCain carried the veterans' vote by 10%). Romney, who evaded service in Vietnam a few months after
protesting in favor of the Draft, presents a completely different target, and is hardly helping himself with his overt sabre-rattling against Iran and
now Russia.
The Obama campaign is engaging servicemen/women and their families in an unprecedented outreach effort:
Obama is attempting a novel approach to reaching veterans and to understanding who they are and what their concerns are. While most veterans are older and more conservative, younger veterans who served more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan include more women and minorities. Politically, they are more reflective of the nation overall: independent-minded, less socially conservative and more supportive of the winding down of the two wars the president inherited.
As a result, Obama campaign advisers said their play for veterans will mimic their efforts to reach particular communities. Neighborhood teams will seek out individual voters on the phone, via the Internet and door to door in key, military-heavy states.
“Before 2008, nobody talked about military families,” said Rob Diamond, who served in Iraq and is the Obama campaign’s vote director for veterans and military families. “Military families have become part of the national conversation. Americans realize that when you have an all-volunteer military, the sacrifice is not just by the service members but their families, too.”
Meanwhile, Romney, who has announced
no specific policy proposals for veterans recently had to backpeddle from a plan he floated to
privatize their health care. It wasn't clear whether he intended to do this before or after the $11 Billion in cuts to Veterans' care he championed by endorsing Congressman Ryan's plan to end Medicare:
On Veterans Day last year, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee did float a plan to privatize the veterans health care system but he was forced to back away from the proposal after swift condemnation from veterans groups.
Romney has also said he supports Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposal. That budget “would cut $11 billion from veterans spending.”
Finally, Romney's own campaign apparently took it for granted that they didn't need to address Veterans' issues.
[N]o plan exists on Romney’s campaign website to address various issues affecting the U.S. military — for example, veterans’ health care and unemployment or, as Obama addressed today, servicemembers’ education. The “Issues” page lists 23 separate issues Mitt Romney has apparently chosen to focus on during his presidential campaign and none is “Veterans” or “Military.”
It appears that our country's veterans will have to wait (again) until Mr. Romney figures out what his position is.
You can donate to President Obama's re-election campaign here.