When President Obama made his Memorial Day surprise visit to U.S. military troops in Afghanistan over the weekend, he may have been entering hostile territory—politically speaking, that is.
A majority of members of the military self-describe as conservative. While the soldiers were no doubt pleased and honored that the commander-in-chief paid them a visit, most wouldn’t vote for him.
In a 2012 Military Times survey, 44 percent of respondents considered themselves conservative, and 11 percent claimed to be very conservative—for a total of 55 percent.
Another 33 percent self-described as moderate. But in my experience soldiers who consider themselves as moderates would generally be considered right-leaning by most people.
The most telling figure: Only 7 percent claimed to be liberal or very liberal.
Even though I think ideological leanings rather than political affiliation may be a better indication of the military’s voting preferences, the Military Times surveyed both: 41 percent said they were Republicans and 2 percent were libertarian. Only 14 percent claimed to be Democrats and 34 percent independent.
While the Military Times survey is not a scientific poll, there are other helpful sources. The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation released in April a survey of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans. In that poll, 27 percent claim to be Republican and 47 percent independent. There was no “libertarian” option.
The number who self-describe as independents appears to have been rising for the past few years, mostly at the expense of the Republican category. That’s probably more of an indication of dissatisfaction with Republican policies than an abandoning of conservative views.
Although the 17 percent who claimed to be Democrats in the WaPo-Kaiser poll is higher than the Military Times poll, it’s still a very small percentage.
More troubling for the president, only 32 percent of veterans said they approve of the job Obama is doing—significantly lower than the general public. When comparing Obama to George W. Bush as commander-in-chief, 42 percent said Obama is a good one compared to a whopping 65 percent who said Bush was.
In that WaPo-Kaiser survey, which was released before the Veterans Affairs scandal emerged, 38 percent said the VA is doing an excellent or good job; 58 percent responded that it’s doing a fair or poor job.
I suspect many of those respondents are not using the VA system—who does if they can avoid it?—and may have only limited experience with it. All of the revelations of waiting lines, health care rationing and even deaths are likely to drive down Obama’s approval rating among the military even more.
So while Obama should be commended for visiting the troops, and they doubtless appreciated it, he was not among his biggest supporters. Our soldiers will obey and fight for their commander-in-chief, but most wouldn’t vote for him.