US Military members voting like UT or OK, but Obama improves on 2008

[Tender Branson]

I've bolded the important parts of the press release:

...

The professional core of the U.S. military overwhelmingly favors Mitt Romney over President Obama in the upcoming election — but not because of any particular military issues, according to a new poll of more than 3,100 active and reserve troops.

Respondents rated the economy and the candidates’ character as their most important considerations and all but ignored the war in Afghanistan as an issue of concern.

The Military Times Poll is a secure email survey of active-duty, National Guard and reserve members who are subscribers to the Military Times newspapers (see How We Did It, below).

This population is older and more senior than the military population at large, but it is representative of the professional core of the all-volunteer force.

The 3,100 respondents — roughly two-thirds active-duty and one-third reserve component members — are about 80 percent white and 91 percent male. Forty percent are in paygrades E-5 through E-8, while more than 35 percent are in paygrades O-3 through O-5.

Almost 80 percent of respondents have a college degree — including 27 percent with a graduate degree and more than 11 percent with a post-graduate degree — while an additional 18.5 percent have some college under their belts.

And they are battle-hardened; almost 29 percent have spent more than two cumulative years deployed since 9/11, while a similar percentage has spent one to two cumulative years deployed.

The Military Times poll shows that Republicans continue to enjoy overwhelming support among the military’s professional ranks.

“There is really an affinity for Republican candidates, even though [troops] say that what counts is character and handling the economy,” said Richard Kohn, who teaches military history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Poll results indicate that about 66 percent of those surveyed support Romney, compared with about 26 percent who say they will vote to re-elect President Obama.

Obama edges upward

While Obama supporters in uniform are clearly a minority, the president’s standing among Military Times readers has improved 3 percentage points since the 2008 poll, when he was a first-term senator facing off against Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. In 2008, 23 percent of respondents supported Obama, while 68 percent backed McCain.

That may suggest that the GOP’s dominance on military issues is ebbing, if very slowly, said Peter Feaver, an expert on civil-military relations who teaches at Duke University.

“[For] several decades, the Republicans had what is known as ‘issue ownership’ on national security,” said Feaver, who served as a special adviser to the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. “The last five to six years has produced a little bit of a swing of the pendulum.”

He cited several reasons for the potential shift, including a perception that the Bush administration mishandled the Iraq War.

The death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. special operations troops also was a boost to Obama’s national security image, and Democrats have courted military voters by emphasizing veterans’ benefits and trying to recast the traditional view of which party supports the military.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2012/10/military-times-poll-romney-bests-obama-2-1-100712/

[opebo]

Could be mainly because Romney's a draft dodger and McCain was a 'hero'.

[krazen1211]

Great patriots.

[Person Man]

This poll really comes to show some issues where Democrats are  losing on. If we lose in November, the question should be- do those who do vote for us because these guys don't deliver? But the Republicans will be asking the same if they lose...eh...they won't..they will probably just go for a candidate that can stand for everything at once again....at least for a couple of more times...and they will probably win that way eventually a couple of times.

[ChrisFromNJ]

I would be interested in seeing the racial breakdown of this subgroup. If Romney is getting almost 66% of the military member vote, how much of the white military member vote is he getting? He may be getting almost 75-80% of the white vote among this subgroup.

[pa2011]

Not terribly surprised by this, when you consider a disproportionate share of the military, like 45 percent, come from Southern States. So it makes sense that they would vote similar to the vote patterns in their homestates/towns.

[Speed of Sound]

Great patriots.

Yes, each and every one of our soldiers, regardless of their political preference, you partisan hack. Your attempts to politicize the patriotism of our soldiers marks reason #1,000,000,000 that you are a blind, heartless, mindless fool.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Romney is no McCain and does not deserve these numbers... Frankly, Obama has been as committed to veterans as any of his predecessors

[opebo]

Romney is no McCain and does not deserve these numbers... Frankly, Obama has been as committed to veterans as any of his predecessors

Huzzah Huzzah!  Credit where it is due - an honest conservative, Mr. clarence.

[Stranger in a strange land]

This thread is a bit misleadingly titled. It's really about Career Military Personnel rather than the broader "military members".

[Alcon]

Yeah...military members did not vote anything like 68-23 Republican in '08.  Obama won quite a few military bases.

[minionofmidas]

This thread is a bit misleadingly titled. It's really about Career Military Personnel rather than the broader "military members".

Ah yes. McCain certainly did not win those by anywhere close to 45 - that's approximately what Bush got in 2004, and military areas had some of the wildest swings of 2008.
Which is in part due to the Bush area military doing their very best to ensure as near as possible every soldier voted in 2004, part of that year's increase in turnout. While when in 2008 turnout elsewhere continued to climb, military turnout jumped off a cliff. In sort, 2004's extra votes were overwhelmingly Republican votes, and I'm very interested in seeing how 2012 would turn out on the army bases. They can have a solid pre-incumbent bias... although in places like Duval FL, increased military turnout would still create an R swing even if there was a D swing among military voters themselves.

[memphis]

Romney has pledged to spend more money on the military. You know how those government employees are. Like pigs at the trough.

[Franzl]

Romney has pledged to spend more money on the military. You know how those government employees are. Like pigs at the trough.

Military doesn't count, you should know that by now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The general stereotype in Britain is that officers are monolithically Tory and that hardly any squaddies vote.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Great patriots.

Except for that 26%.  Probably all reds in disguise.

[minionofmidas]

The general stereotype in Britain is that officers are monolithically Tory and that hardly any squaddies vote.

The problem with that in the US is that 30ish of squaddies are Black.

[opebo]

The general stereotype in Britain is that officers are monolithically Tory and that hardly any squaddies vote.

The problem with that in the US is that 30ish of squaddies are Black.

Yeah, I wonder what the relative turnout is comparing the poor black cannon fodder to the poor white cannon fodder.