All: Feel free to post this picture wherever you think is appropriate.
And for the record, I already voted. For Sarah. (Florida military absentee.)
According to the poll, 68 percent of active-duty and retired servicemen and women support McCain, while 23 percent support Barack Obama. The numbers are nearly identical among officers and enlisted troops.
Click here to see the raw data.
The Military Times, which publishes the Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times, polled 80,000 subscribers from Sept 22 to Sept. 29. The non-scientific survey gathered 4,300 respondents -- all of them registered and eligible to vote.
A racial divide was immediately evident among the respondents. Nearly eight in 10 black servicemembers chose Obama, while McCain captured 76 percent of white voters and 63 percent of Hispanic voters.
Click here to see more on this story from FOX News.
Numbers among men and women respondents were also visibly different. Men overwhelmingly said they would vote for McCain, 70 percent to 22 percent. But among women the margin was much closer: 53 percent support McCain, while 36 percent support Obama.
U.S. troops also said in the poll that they prefer McCain to handle the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- 74 percent said McCain would perform better, while just 19 percent said Obama would.
Four years ago the Iraq War was the single most important issue on which the military voted. But the war now ranks third in importance to these voters. The most important issue among the respondents was character (42 percent), followed by the economy (25 percent) and the Iraq War (16 percent).
There was a racial divide on these issues, as well. Black servicemembers said the economy was the No. 1 issue that affected their vote, and white troops said character was paramount.
The Military Times offered certain caveats for its poll, which was open only to its 80,000 subscribers. Responses were entirely voluntary and were not focused on a representative sample of the public, as scientific polls are. The troops polled were also somewhat older than average enlisted servicemembers and included more officers than is representative of the military as a whole.
Yet judging by the numbers, it appears that the Democratic party has not made many inroads into the traditionally Republican military.
Click here for more on this story from the Military Times.
FOX News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Yeah, but will their votes be counted? I remember Al Gore being so happy that he got a lot of them ousted.
Why does it only “suggest” a preference for McCain? When a tracking poll shows a 5 point BHO lead, we’re told that the race is over.
It surprises me that 25% would vote for Obama, the guy who didn’t want to fund them.
With the other 25% going to Ron Paul, right?
The ratio of those in combat arms is probably 99-1.
TWO things we can thank Nixon for (sarcasm):
1) Eliminating the draft
2) Lowering the voting age.
One of the Navy guys I work with got a "Go Sarah Go" T-Shirt from his sister in the mail and asked permission to wear it while jogging on the Embassy grounds just to annoy the State Department folks. His military boss actually said "hey, go for it." It loopholed the UCMJ because Sarah's last name is not on the shirt. LOL
Of course they do! It’s even higher among Marines.
And in other news....reports indicate majority of people believe that the sky is blue...
bttt
Unfortunately this shows how strong the Race issue is, even in the military, where it shouldn't matter.
Isn’t the military 1/4 African American? If so, that would explain a lot.
Not one to ever question our brave men and women in uniform, just have to wonder how Osama gets even 23% of the vote when he essentially called them killers and murderers with that “air-raiding villages and killing civilians” remark.
bttt
But I am pleasantly surprised at how many young Soldiers, both officer and enlisted, are spontaneously telling me they are for McCain.