Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Do U.S. Soldiers Vote Republican?

Marines watch the presidential debate live early Oct. 4 at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. Collin Kelly / Staff

Does The Military Vote Really Lean Republican? -- Time

Various yardsticks suggest the U.S. military – or at least the officer corps, which accounts for 17% of the 1.4 million-strong active-duty force – leans Republican.

The nation’s 24 million troops and veterans account for about 10% of the nation’s potential voters, but they’re not the monolithic bloc many believe.

Outsiders tend to think the U.S. military is made up entirely of blood-and-gut conservatives, à la John Wayne, but there’s little real evidence to back that up. When the Iraq war was launched, the consensus among U.S. military officers interviewed at the time was that one in three officers opposed it, suggesting they all weren’t gun ho.

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My Comment: In a recent Military Times poll on voting preferences for U.S. military personnel, they found a 2:1 margin in favor of Republicans.

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