Military Moms May Be Force At Polls

Washington Post: The Most Important Swing Vote In '08 May Be Moms With A Husband Or Child Serving

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Anne E. Kornblut and Michael D. Shear.

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One of the foremost experts on politics in the Granite State thinks she has found the next critical constituency: military moms.

"She would typically be a Republican who is not against war and is not necessarily against this war -- or at least may have supported it when it began," Jennifer Donahue, senior adviser for political affairs at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, said over sodas at the Red Arrow Diner last week.

The military mom -- who has either a child or a husband who is serving -- is disenchanted with the war. The question is: Will she shift allegiance to support a Democrat, or is she looking for an independent-minded Republican?

She is "the swing vote," Donahue said. Especially in New Hampshire.

One need look no further than down the counter at the Red Arrow to find a military mom, Elaine Boule, the manager, who lost a brother-in-law to the war in Iraq and is about to abandon her lifelong pattern of backing Republicans to support a Democrat, possibly Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

That is typical, Donahue said: The military mom "would probably vote for a candidate who she thought would have credibility on foreign affairs, so that on the Democratic side is most likely to be Hillary Clinton." Most polling shows Clinton far ahead on the question of experience. She also scores an advantage among women generally -- and her campaign strategists think she will draw even more women, including Republicans, once voting begins.

Still, a Washington Post-ABC News poll in April found that more women in military families had already rejected Clinton outright (48 percent) than had women in nonmilitary households (34 percent).

As she watches the campaign unfold, Donahue, a former television producer who moved into academia after the 2000 presidential race, said she is noticing other distinct trends in New Hampshire that are not necessarily being reflected at the national level.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) still has support in the state, she argues, and may be able to pull off another expectations-defying stunner despite his national decline. His biggest challenge? Keeping independents -- who make up 44 percent of the state's electorate -- in his camp. In New Hampshire's open primary, independents can vote in either contest, which means that McCain is likely to be battling Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for unaffiliated voters in January.

Republican former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is having a hard time conveying his "mayor of September 11" persona in the state, she added. "The argument up here that [the] Giuliani-equals-9/11 response doesn't seem to be getting across, in part because he hasn't campaigned here all that much," Donahue said. "But it's really because you don't get asked just one thing at the town hall meetings in New Hampshire. You get asked 25 things. So if you have a good answer on one question it doesn't get you home. You have to answer the other 24. And he's vague on certain things."

So, who's winning? "You have to be really careful," Donahue said, recalling that a week before the 2000 primary, Bush strategist Karl Rove told her that the Texas governor would win the state by 10 points (he lost by 18). "Most New Hampshire voters decide in the last week before the primary -- especially independents, who tend to decide in the last weekend before the primary," she said. "So anything that's happened so far is significant, but nothing that's happened so far can't be changed."

[liberalvet]

All the "military moms" I know support there spouces or childs effort and understand that these brave family members volunteered to do this job. Just another twisted CBS propagand story, more leftwing dribble.
Posted by notblue at 12:30 PM : Aug 29, 2007


Blue try talking to people other than your right wing church members..... You radical nut jobs all run in packs and convince each other that your stupid outlooks are really factual....

[sgtrds]

Remember - when Hillary became first lady she refused to allow any uniformed military into the White House.

That''''s what Hillary thinks of the military, and even though she is trying to change public perceptions of her, she is still the same military-hater.
Posted by One_American at 02:31 PM : Aug 29, 2007

The above is what''s known as a lie. It simply never happened and is a lie made up of whole cloth. This is a claim some of the more lunatic fringe right wingers say, but there is not only no evidence for it, there is a huge amount of evidence against it, including the large number of uniformed military personnel that served on Bill Clinton''s honor guard who were present in the White House at every state visit and the large number of generals that were invited for official talks and to state dinners. Again, the ludicrous idea that uniformed military personnel were not allowed into the White House by any president is complete, 100% BS. It is a lie.

[sgtrds]

"The military mom -- who has either a child or a husband who is serving -- is disenchanted with the war."

That''s because they realize that their sons and husbands are dying in Iraq for nothing more then Bush''s ego and Cheney''s profit. To Cheney and his friends this war was waged simply to burn up expensive military hardware that needs to be replaced at a huge profit (to say nothing of the corruption, kickbacks and bribes ending up in a numbered account that only Cheney knows about) and to Bush, well he''s so fu*cking ignorant that he''s actually convinced himself that he''s on a mission from god. Cheney is a crook and Bush is an idiot.

[danstoned]

Posted by homespunlady

All the while "Joe Soldier" is being shafted while "Hal Haliburton" stuffs his pockets and parties, and ironically, the mainstream news and the gullible wave Chinese made "American" flags to "show their patriotism".

You just described the braindead boob tube culture of America, and rather eloquently.

[kaelinda]

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are not fighting for America. They are fighting for the freedom of Iraqis and Afghanis. Bush didn''t go into Iraq for the purpose of fighting terrorism, he went in for the purpose of avenging himself against the dictator who tried to have his (Bush''s) father killed. That there is lots of oil in Iraq is very helpful, but that wasn''t the primary motivation. Military moms who think otherwise are deluding themselves - they sent their sons and daughters off to fight an unwinnable war.

[Razzl]

"Your logic is equally fuzzy. You''''re not counting the moms of active soldiers no longer deployed to Iraq, the moms of active soldiers who are not now deployed, but probably will be if we stayed engaged, the moms of active soldiers in Afghanistan, and active sailor moms who are seeing the Navy reserves called up for combat ground duty. That doesn''''t even touch the moms of vets who are vulnerable to recall by a "volunteer" military desperate for warm bodies. When an election can hinge on just thousands--or even hundreds--of votes, the mom voting block is not insignificant"

I did include the moms of those who finished a tour--"I don''t know how many separate individuals completed deployment and are home, but let''''s be generous and double the 225,000 to 450,000"--but my number was a guess. And true enough, I didn''t include the moms of the Afghanistan troops.

My point here was that an article claiming some segment of the electorate could be a significant factor ought to rest on some objective sense of just how much of the electorate they really constitute. The reporters would have gotten better numbers than I did in 5 minutes of guesstimating, and in the end would have been able to ask their experts whether a group constituting 3% or 5% is really the significant factor someone claimed them to be. As someone later said, talking to one mom in a diner is hardly research...

[oscarez]

"Patriots are not people who blindly support their politicians or government, they are people who are willing to fight and if necessary die in support of the Constitution and the freedoms protected by it."
Posted by lorinkundert at 04:55 PM : Aug 29, 2007

Well said, but the same cannot be said for Bush who allowed revenge to prompt his actions in Iraq. Iraq was no threat to the U.S. Constitution or the freedoms protected by it.

[lorinkundert]

For some of the Patriot comments:

Patriots are not people who blindly support their politicians or government, they are people who are willing to fight and if necessary die in support of the Constitution and the freedoms protected by it.

[realpatriot1]

cmp271,

Could you kindly explain what you mean by your comment that democrats are patriotic when they can get a free hand out?

I''m not a vet, but my mom was an army brat and my grandfather was a Lt. Colonel during WW2. Should any of that put me in a position to insult anyone else''s patriotism or speak for anyone other than myself?

I think we both know that the military is a microsism of society and has as much of a diversity of opinion on the war and the candidates as the rest of us.

I do appreciate your comments about Islam and our need to remain engaged in the middle east, although I differ on Iraq.

[lars008-2009]

it is fascist nazi terrorislam stupid%u2026.

non muslims of the world unite... fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside...

I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair''s bombs" line did our propaganda work for us.
More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465570&in_page_id=1770
Bless the Beasts and Children
Fascist nazi terrorslam kills every man woman and child in the village again%u2026 typical mo for terrorslam%u2026
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bless-the-beasts-and-children.htm

Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan

the truth about fascist nazi terrorislam...
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

[homespunlady]

Actually This military person looks at whether that support goes to CONTRACTORS OR TO THE GROUND POUNDERS.

Guess what! "Republican" means LOUSY pay raises and lost benefits more often than not BUT GREAT contracts for the CIVILIAN FAT CATS that sell OVERPRICED systems and materials.

Just because the "military budget" goes up DOESN''T mean life is better for the individual soldier, sailor or Airman.

It only means ANOTHER war and military benefits cut behind the scenes due to rerouting of funds which go to favored and WEALTHY CONTRACTORS with connections and "great" lobbyists.

All the while "Joe Soldier" is being shafted "Hal Haliburton" stuffs his pockets and parties, and ironically, the mainstream news and the gullible wave Chinese made "American" flags to "show their patriotism".

[cmp271]

Military Moms, are these the same women Clinton insulted in ''92 as the little woman in the kitchen?? No woman in her right mind should vote for this power crazed female.

This conflict is very necessary for the mid-east. Iran is out of control and so are the Hamas. Bin Laden still needs to be found and dealt with. He gave orders to his own to kill him if caught. Too bad they are too ignorant to see through him and his hatred which is not what Islam is about.


BOTH PARTIES NEED TO BE ACCOUNTABLE.

NEITHER PARTY IS GOING TO GET US OUT OF IRAQ!!!

Military people are generally Republican because they know who really supports them and their patriotic beliefs. Democrats are patriotic when they can get a free hand out.

[realpatriot1]

It took 2 people to write this article and they still didn''t actually say anything of substance.

I particularly anjoy the "foremost expert on politics in New Hampshire" trying to draw conclusions about military moms as a group based upon the opinion of one mom at the Red Arrow.

Come on CBS, you can do better than this can''t you?

[one_american]

Very few, if any, "military moms" would be so naive to cast any vote for Hillary Clinton.

Remember - when Hillary became first lady she refused to allow any uniformed military into the White House.

That''s what Hillary thinks of the military, and even though she is trying to change public perceptions of her, she is still the same military-hater.

[homespunlady]

Be careful what you ASSume.
Even Active military are entitled to their own opinion - they''re just not able to publicly voice it.
You''d be surprised what those opinions might REALLY be.

It wasn''t very honest to DENY FLA military from higher democratic areas to be SCAMMED out of their vote.

"Military Mom" is VERY inclusive since some have served themselves, some are traditional mom stereotypes and some are the upcoming POTENTIAL DRAFT mom that catches on to that fact.
It IS a larger group than the fabled "soccer mom" or "NASCAR Demographic".

Personally though I would take a look at the "foreclosure family" while stereotyping for votes also - THEY promise to be a HUGE and growing force since it''s predicted that OVER 2 MILLION FORECLOSURES are expected - Causing desperation and yes, probably OPPORTUNITY for recruiters and politicians.

HMMM.... how about the "Poverty Portion", the Uninsured Voter Block", the "911 Truth Activists", the "Constitution Followers" or the "outsourcing victims"?

As far as an "HONEST" election, I''d say GOOD LUCK and please try to DEMAND one!
The "dirty tricks squad" needs to be stopped.
"Forgetting" to deliver ballots to selected districts or "broken" machines that have to be "fixed" are scam tactics.

Dumping Karl Rove isn''t going to fix that - there are his protigis to contend with.

Mandate verifiable voting systems. POLL WATCHERS worked in MO and should be used so NEITHER side SCAMS their way in.

[flreason]

I''m a military mom, but I think this war is ill-conceived, poorly executed, and any gains will be temporary. I do support my daughter in the military--by demanding accountability in both parties, and by supporting treatment of our active soldiers and vets that recognizes the sacrifices they and their families have made to defend our freedoms.

[ioweign]

All the "military moms" I know support there spouces or childs effort and understand that these brave family members volunteered to do this job. Just another twisted CBS propagand story, more leftwing dribble.
Posted by notblue at 12:30 PM : Aug 29, 2007

Your above statement is true EXCEPT for the last sentence. We have a volunteer military but we are not sheep being lead a "My Pet Goat".

Iraq is Bush''s Conflict of Choice, even his daddy was smart enough not to go after Saddam !

[ianlou]

The Real Reason We''re In Iraq:

When Osama Bin Forgotten attacked the U.S. George Jr. reacted by attacking the guy who tried to kill his dad.

[notblue]

All the "military moms" I know support there spouces or childs effort and understand that these brave family members volunteered to do this job. Just another twisted CBS propagand story, more leftwing dribble.

[j4401]

The Real Reason We''re In Iraq:

An influential group of conservatives convinced President George W. Bush that it was in America''s best interests to conquer Iraq as a first step toward dominating the oil-producing nations in the Middle East. There was no "exit plan" because we never intended to exit. The plan was, and is, to build military bases in Iraq and stay there forever. Our leaders also see Iraq as a place to make money. So Bush & Co. have set up their friends to cash in on the rebuilding of Iraq.