Ron Paul Gets Over Double The Donations From Active Duty Military As ALL Other Candidates COMBINED!

[DeathToTheOil]

Alex Wagner, at the 39-second mark. If this is true,

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm not surprised. He is a cretin, overall, but not wrong on everything...

His strong stance on ending these needless wars and pulling out troops out of Afghanistan--has got to speak to active duty troops. Why would anyone be surprised.

Sadly, some look at single issues to evaluate a candidate. Hopefully these troops will get a more comprehensive picture of Paul.

[Old and In the Way]

2. He's the most anti-war candidate in the field.

Perhaps our military is telling us something by their choice of candidates?

[Scuba]

3. Well, he's been very clear that he won't go starting unnecessary wars. Who do you think....

... those who do the fighting in such wars would support?

[MADem]

5. The guy who will put them out of a job before they can collect their retirement pay?

The one who would put them on the unemployment line, and their family out of base housing, quick as a wink?

The one who would ensure a brutal force-shaping drawdown the likes of which we have not seen since World War II ended?

I dunno. People seem to forget that the military is an All Volunteer Force these days. Everyone wants to believe a false paradigm that the military is full of a bunch of disgruntled, war weary, angry souls straight out of Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now or Born on the Fourth of July. Back in the Vietnam era, when the draft was king and people were forced to serve against their will, this kind of logic makes sense. Nowadays, though, I question the veracity of these claims.

Who votes for the guy who intends to tear off their uniforms, separate them from their culture, cut off their pay and benefits, toss their families out of free, safe, well-maintained military housing, rip away their medical and dental coverage, as well as their access to base quality of life programs, like gyms, movie theaters, commissaries, child care centers, family service centers, summer programs for kids, etc., etc?

I don't see why anyone would so eagerly cut off their nose to spite their--and their family's--face. Particularly now, with a big drawdown on the horizon ANYWAY. It's not hard to leave the service these days--the more who want to leave, the fewer they'll have to fire.

[MADem]

4. As a career military servicemember, and a retired one, I NEVER ONCE identified myself as a

military person when I made donations. Not once. And I gave a lot of money to candidates over the years, too.

[Enrique]

6. here are some numbers from a good source

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/01/military-donors-still-prefer-paul.html

Donor Obama Romney Gingrich Paul Santorum
National Guard $1,262 $0 $0 $4,068 $0
US Air Force $9,785 $4,400 $4,400 $23,736 $0
US Army $15,600 $3,500 $250 $24,503 $250
US Coast Guard $6,002 $0 $0 $3,716 $0
US Dept of Defense $27,613 $2,150 $0 $9,527 $0
US Marine Corps $1,700 $250 $0 $7,662 $0
US Military $200 $0 $0 $2,083 $0
US Navy $10,454 $3,000 $250 $20,272 $500

TOTAL $72,616 $13,300 $4,900 $95,567 $750

[kurt_cagle]

7. Fascinating

Paul's support is not that surprising - the libertarian and military mindsets are not that far apart (and significantly most military do not tend to see themselves as being part of the government but part of the military, as if the two were in fact two very different (and largely independent) things ... which I've always found curious). I'm more surprised with Obama's support - the military has traditionally been a Republican bastion, and for Obama to be getting about 40% of the total donations says a lot - perhaps even that if Paul did get knocked out of the race and didn't come in as a third party candidate, Obama's support would be closer to 65% or higher.

I think there's something else at work here as well. Obama has drawn down the troop levels in Iraq and is doing so in Afghanistan. Libya was a fairly minimal presence with a very clear mission that he achieve, and Bin Laden was killed during his watch. While I have some reservations with the latter, from a military standpoint Obama has stayed away from grandiose adventurism in favor of more low key options, and has consistently moving the military back towards the Clinton model (not surprisingly given Hillary's presence as SoS) of limited theater engagements, and treating terrorism as a crime rather than as a causus belli.

[walerosco]

8. Nice compilation

seems like the further away they are from the battle field, the more they donate to Obama and the close they are, they more they donate to Paul. Makes a lot of sense, I just hope my flat feet will gets me medical exemption if someone decides to attack Iran because I am not ready to fight a war for empire.