I came across an amazing article by Politico about the support from military veterans the Republican party has enjoyed for the last thirty years.  After analyzing the voter turnout information, there’s something funny going on with military voters:  they’re moving Dem!

In the past two election cycles, Democrats have added ten new Democratic veterans to Congress. Last week, President-elect Barack Obama helped close the gap among military voters, winning 44 percent of veterans as opposed to John F. Kerry’s 41 percent in 2004.

To anyone who survived the bruising campaigns of the 1990’s, the thought that the Republican Party would surrender its stranglehold on military voters seems unbelievable. But the reality is that this image was never more than surface deep. All those political operatives who seemed to care so deeply about the heroic service of Republican nominees in 1992 and 1996 thought nothing of denigrating and attacking the service of Al Gore and John Kerry when it was the Republican candidate who had avoided serving in Vietnam.

But the really fascinating part is that military personnel haven’t always cared so much whether a candidate was a Republican or a Democrat.  It’s a relatively recent trend that we’re seeing more service members and veterans voting for Republicans.

Republicans did not always have a lock on military voters. Prior to Vietnam, military service was seen as an obligation of all Americans – regardless of political affiliation or wealth. George H.W. Bush and John F. Kennedy were both sons of privileged, politically-connected families who served heroically in the military during World War II. Back then, this was seen as your duty as an American – and no political party could lay an exclusive claim to the flag.

The Republican strangle-hold on military voters is actually rooted in nothing more than a campaign strategy:

The GOP’s ability to market itself as the “Party of the Military” grew in large part from schisms in the electorate arising during the Vietnam era. For a generation, Republicans exploited George McGovern’s 1972 campaign as a means to brand Democrats as unpatriotic and weak on national security – never mind the fact that McGovern flew 35 bombing missions over Europe during WWII and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.

It was during these formative years as a budding Republican operative that Karl Rove learned the tools of the trade. Ironically, Rove avoided serving in Vietnam so he could sharpen the political skills he would later use to brand Al Gore a fraud, Max Cleland a coward, and John Kerry a traitor. Never mind that Al Gore enlisted in the Army; Max Cleland left three limbs on the battlefield; and John Kerry fought his way to three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star.

Senator McCain was the one true American hero of the Republican party.  Something many of his counterparts could never lay claim to:

For all the GOP’s patriotic imagery and testosterone-infused rhetoric, the sad truth is that most of the current crop of Republican leaders – Rudy Giuliani; Mitt Romney; Newt Gingrich; Mitch McConnell; John Boehner; etc. – were all of age at the time of Vietnam but avoided serving in the military.

Just one more irony of the Republican party.   But at this point, is it really any suprise?

Popularity: 2% [?]

A question was just asked on CNN if voters seem more enthusiastic or energized than in previous election years. The simple answer is yes.  But I was musing exactly why the voters are more energized and I realized that it’s more complicated than it appears.

Here are the top reasons I think people are more enthusiastic this Presidential cycle than in the past:

1. Finally seeing an end to the Bush reign.
2. Voters are excited to elect the first African-American President, Barack Obama.  There’s a few key words being thrown around:  momentus and historic.
3. Second to electing an African-American as president is electing the first female Vice President.  It’s definitely a factor especially considering that Sarah Palin’s running mate, John McCain, has one foot in the grave already.  Which leads me to….
4. Electing the oldest man to take the presidential office.
5. Lastly, although my gut tells me it should be higher on the list, some voters are excited to elect AGAINST the first African-American president.

This combination of race, sex, and enthusiasm to change the current Presidents policy is making it the most exciting election year in U.S. history. I’m proud to be a part of it. Vote!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Is the push for Florida paying off for Obama?

A new poll commissioned by researchers at New York University reveals that American Jews favor Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama over his Republic rival, John McCain, by a 67 - 33 percent margin.

The survey, which sampled the opinions of over 3,000 respondents - half of them being Jewish - also found that Jews as an ethnic group will support Obama by almost 30 percent more than other white, non-Hispanic voters.

[haaretz]

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’ve gotten used hearing rumors about Barack Obama like how he’s a Muslim, or that he swore on the Koran when elected to the Senate.  All of which have been proved INCORRECT without a shadow of doubt.

It was recently brought to my attention that ANOTHER rumor is developing.

Apparently some voters in Iowa argue against voting for Barack Obama for fear that he’ll change the United States flag if elected President.

You’ve. Gotta. Be. Shitting. Me.

I can only assume that this rumor has spawned from old news items like when Obama wasn’t wearing the tiny American flag pin during public appearances like all the other candidates last year.  Or when his campaign airplane was outfitted with his campaign logo instead of the American flag.

I have no link to the story that there are some Iowa voters who believe Obama will change the American flag if elected President because it was something directly told to me by those voters.

But does it shock anyone that something so absurd is swinging votes?  Then again, I think some people are looking for any reason to cast their vote for “anyone other than Obama”.

UPDATE:

I came across a site called “Conservapedia” designed to mimic Wikipedia except catered specifically for, you guessed it, “conservatives”.

Check out what it says in the Barack Obama entry.  No wonder people are all backwards on the truth:

Obama is likely to be Muslim because:

• Obama’s background and education are Muslim
• Obama’s middle name remains Muslim, which most Christians would not retain[8]
• Obama recently referred to his “Muslim faith”[9]
• Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for “Pakistan” rather than the common American one[10]
• Obama, in his autobiography “Dreams from My Father” (1995), descibes Muslim Malcolm X as his favorite black leader
• Obama’s claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.[11]

The odds of Obama being truthful in his claim that he converted to Christianity are less than 100 to 1 against it, as fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.[12]

Popularity: 5% [?]

This is one of the larger issues between the two U.S. Presidential candidates, McCain and Obama.  Should the United States have direct talks with Iranian leader, Ahmadinejad?

McCain says,  “Absolutely not.  The guys a terrorist!”  Obama says, “Absolutely yes.  The guys a terrorist!”

The Bush administration was prepping to send a diplomat to Iran considering the accelerated rate at which Iran was developing nuclear capabilities.

But now Bush has changed his mind and it’s gonna have to wait until a new president is elected:

The proposal to send US diplomats to Teheran for the first time in three decades attracted great attention when it was floated seriously midyear, but has been placed on indefinite hold as November’s election nears and Iran continues to defy demands to halt suspect nuclear activities, officials told the AP.

The officials said it had been decided to leave the decision to the next US president because it could be seen as a reward for Iran’s nuclear intransigence especially when Iranian policy has become a major part of the heated campaign between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

My personal opinion? The Bush administration is a bunch of spineless pussies.

Popularity: 4% [?]