Is the percentage of black Americans serving in the military higher than in the general population? Someone suggested to me that might be the reason for the numbers in the OP.
It may be, but I doubt it’s 6:1 Black to White. But again, this is such a tiny sample size, based on what RTF found out, that it’s useless as an indicator of anything.
A Gallup Poll shows McCain leading by a large margin.
I don’t know how significant the “and veterans” is, but I can’t imagine Obama being anywhere near the walkaway champion either way.
[QUOTE=RTFirefly]
The 6-1 edge is in contributions from troops serving overseas; the edge is smaller if troops stationed on American soil are included.
The 6-1 edge (in $$, not in donors) is also based on a mere 160 people in uniform, 134 of whom contributed to Obama, and 26 of whom gave to McCain.
It’s a good sign and all, but 134 Obama contributors and 26 McCain contributors out of 300,000 American troops stationed overseas sounds a good deal less impressive than 6 to 1.
[/QUOTE]
I had similar thoughts. Given the generally low rates of pay for active military personnel I would be surprised if the absolute numbers for donations to political campaigns were very high. Most military families just can’t spare much to donate. Obama has run a much more effective grass-roots fundraising campaign than McCain has. Inspiring people, even those on tight budgets, to give to his campaign is one of his strengths, and one of the most remarkable things about how he has conducted his fundraising. Imagine 300,000 overseas active duty personnel. 134/300,000 ~= 0.04% That’s hardly a broad base of support, and what he needs from them is votes, not money. Every trend and poll I’ve seen shows votes from military personnel go heavily to Republicans in the modern era. Have a reputable polling organization ask military personnel who they plan to vote for and if you come up with a 6/1 ratio in Obama’s favor, that’s news.
This? I’m thinking this is non-news beefed up by headline writers desperate for something to fill the 24/7 news cycle.
Enjoy,
Steven
From
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen]
[/QUOTE]
Ron Paul… the hell? Is he expected to be a player as an independent, or is this just counting his donations before he dropped out?
[QUOTE=Sampiro]
Ron Paul… the hell? Is he expected to be a player as an independent, or is this just counting his donations before he dropped out?
[/QUOTE]
Again, the numbers are minuscule. The Gallup poll you cited is the more relevant number, although, like you, I wish Gallup had given the splits for active duty military v. veterans.
[QUOTE=Mtgman]
I had similar thoughts. Given the generally low rates of pay for active military personnel I would be surprised if the absolute numbers for donations to political campaigns were very high.
[/QUOTE]
I’m making about 6 figures on a military salary and being in Iraq, I have nothing else to spend money on. Deployed soldiers make thousands more than nondeployed soldiers, and they have less to spend money on.
FWIW, until this election I have never donated money to a candidate. I’ve now donated every month for the past three months.
How exactly did they determine their statitistics? How do they know if someone who is donating is a deployed soldier? Do they count each person one time? Or do they count each donation seperately? I’m curious.
Sorry, but I haven’t a clue. This was a two-minute blurb on CNN, if that long. Apparently RTF saw something with more detail, but I did not.