Thursday, January 17, 2008

Vets in S.C. May Not Vote for McCain

No kidding.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- John McCain seems like a natural presidential pick for veterans in South Carolina, a decorated POW of the Vietnam War in a military-friendly state.

The Republican senator has been running campaign ads that touch on his war record. His "No Surrender" tour spent days here in the fall as he focused on the Iraq war. And many veterans are in his corner.

But, in keeping with the volatile primary season, the veteran vote is just not that simple. The economy and health care are factors for military retirees, and most say they vote for a person — not a uniform. Plus, and hold on to your green berets, some are Democrats.

"Veterans have a lot in common with other voters in this state and that makes it hard to pigeonhole them," said Danielle Vinson, a political science professor at Furman University. "In the past, the veterans have not been a consistent voting bloc."

This is just stupid.

The circumstances of the lives of veterans are too varied to consider them to be a consistent voting bloc. They aren't one-dimensional figures. They don't align themselves with candidates based on their military backgrounds alone. Ask John Kerry.

How could anyone think that vets would automatically vote for John McCain just because of his military service?


That's as silly as assuming that men obsessed with their hair would vote for John Edwards.

Or, women who wear pantsuits would vote for Hillary.

Or, people who enjoy a tasty fried squirrel would vote for Mike Huckabee.

2 comments:

Pete Fanning said...

I am a military veteran. I am a Navy Veteran. I have the utmost respect for John McCain for his military service. But I would not and could not bring myself to vote for him because of his ideology. Period.

It's well known who I support, all you need do is visit my blog....Fred Thompson. There are ALOT of Vets behind Fred too, and they are listed at vets4fred.net....

Mary said...

I have nothing but respect for McCain when it comes to his military service to our country.

You, too, Pete. Thank you for serving. I don't take for granted what I've got because of the sacrifice of others. It's a debt that I'll never be able to repay.

I see respect for McCain's service as a completely separate issue from what I think of him as a potential Republican nominee for president.

I can understand why a lot of veterans would support Thompson. I hope the ones living in S.C. get out the vote for Fred.