Paul leads in donations from military voters, with Obama next

[ariesgem]

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, the congressman from the Houston area who opposes the Iraq war, has gotten more contributions than any other White House contender from donors identified as affiliated with the military.

According to a Houston Chronicle analysis of campaign records from January through September, Paul received $63,440 in donations from current military employees and several retired military personnel.

Democrat Barack Obama, another war critic, was second in military giving. The Illinois senator got $53,968 during the nine months.

He was followed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, a decorated Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, who received $48,208 in military-related giving. McCain has been one of the most vigorous defenders of President Bush's decision this year to increase U.S. troops in Iraq.

The military contributions — nearly 1,000 of them are listed in Federal Election Commission records for this year — represent a small fraction of the overall contributions to the candidates.

Paul, whose campaign Web site notes his military service as a flight surgeon in the Air Force in the 1960s as well as his opposition to the current war, raised a total of $5 million from July through September alone. Also, many contributors do not disclose their occupations, making it difficult to determine the total extent of military contributions to any one candidate.

Nevertheless, analysts said the ability of Paul and Obama to rake in as much money from military employees as they did suggests there is a certain degree of dissatisfaction with the Iraq campaign among veterans and those in uniform.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5223477.html

[daninthemoon]

1. Pretty telling about where the actual soldiers stand on this issue.

Kinda sad Kucinich didn't make the list, though.:cry:

[monktonman]

3. They probably dont know who he is .

[monktonman]

2. Wonder where Hill inc. is in military donations? n/t

[SergeyDovlatov]

10. HRC got the most from defense contractors. (Not sure it counts as a military)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/17/defense-industry-embraces_n_68927.html

Defense Industry Embraces Democrats, Hillary By Far The Favorite
October 17, 2007 11:07 PM

employees of the top five arms makers - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics -- gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to Republicans.

Senator Clinton took in $52,600, more than half of the total going to all Democrats, and a figure equaling 60 percent of the sum going to the entire GOP field. Her closest competitor for defense industry money is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.), who raised $32,000.

[monktonman]

12. So the contractors give the most to Hillary

And the soldiers give the most to Obama.
Ron Paul is just an idiot.

I guess our soldiers know something the Hillbots dont.

[SergeyDovlatov]

13. So, in your opinion, do idiots produce legislation such as this?

http://www.americanfreedomcampaign.org/storage/afagenda...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/finally-action...

SEC. 3. MILITARY COMMISSIONS; ENEMY COMBATANTS; HABEAS
CORPUS.
(a) The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is hereby repealed.
(c) The President is prohibited from detaining any individual indefinitely ...
(d) Any individual detained as an enemy combatant by the United States shall be
entitled to petition for a writ of habeas corpus under section 2241 of title 28,
United States Code.

SEC. 4. TORTURE OR COERCED CONFESSIONS.

No civilian or military tribunal of the United States shall admit as evidence
statements extracted from the defendant by torture or coercion.

...

SEC. 6. PRESIDENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENTS.
The House of Representatives and Senate collectively shall enjoy standing to file a
declaratory judgment action in an appropriate Federal district court to challenge
the constitutionality of a presidential signing statement that declares the
President's intent to disregard provisions of a bill he has signed into law because
he believes they are unconstitutional.

SEC. 7. KIDNAPPING, DETENTIONS, AND TORTURE ABROAD.
No officer or agent of the United States shall kidnap, imprison, or torture any
person abroad based solely on the President's belief that the subject of the
kidnapping, imprisonment, or torture is a criminal or enemy combatant; provided
that kidnapping shall be permitted if undertaken with the intent of bringing the
kidnapped person for prosecution or interrogation to gather intelligence before a
tribunal that meets international standards of fairness and due process. A knowing
violation of this section shall be punished as a felony punishable by a fine or
imprisonment of up to 2 years.

SEC. 8. JOURNALIST EXCEPTION TO ESPIONAGE ACT.
Nothing in the Espionage Act of 1917 shall prohibit a journalist from publishing
information received from the executive branch or Congress unless the publication
would cause direct, immediate, and irreparable harm to the national security of
the United States.

SEC. 9. USE OF SECRET EVIDENCE TO MAKE FOREIGN TERRORIST
DESIGNATIONS.

Notwithstanding any other law, secret evidence shall not be used by the President
or any other member of the executive branch to designate an individual or
organization with a United States presence as a foreign terrorist or foreign
terrorist organization for purposes of the criminal law or otherwise imposing
criminal or civil sanctions.

[monktonman]

14. Oh boy, Ron Paul hates the war. Ok I get that.

He's also to the extreme right on every other issue.
The guy has no chance of winning and he knows it.
His anti-war stance is an egotistical way of garnering attention.
Have fun with your sinking ship.

[SergeyDovlatov]

15. Did you actually read my previous post?

Or read Naomi Wolf article about it?
Or visited http://www.americanfreedomcampaign.org/ ?

FYI:

Founders of the American Freedom Campaign

Wes Boyd, co-founder, MoveOn.org
Naomi Wolf, author of “The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.”
David Fenton (Executive Director of AFC), Chairman, Fenton Communications

~

So, from your reply, I can surmise that you consider Patriot Act, Military Commission act is an important tool in the war on terror, since one of our top tier candidates (cough* HRC cough*) voted for both of them?

[mod mom]

4. Very interesting.

[bullimiami]

5. its pretty obvious people who identify themselves as military or former military

are 2/3 batshit crazy.

OK I agree with Ron Paul the war is a disaster. But there is scant little else in his repertoire i like.
Is this the group of disaffected flag wavers who are sucked in by the republican mask and could never vote for a democrat?

The sane 1/3 gave their cash to Obama. ok but im surprised. A large proportion of Blacks in the military maybe?

Mccain? They gave McCain almost as much as Obama? Thats just insane. He is insane. Just look at that picture of him hugging Bush after the bastard pulled that shit in NC.

[daninthemoon]

6. Wouldn't say batshit crazy over this. There is a strong republican

influence in the military culture. If most of the soldiers making donations are registered republicans, it makes perfect sense they would be behind the one candidate absolutely opposed to the war.

[Dawgs]

7. "Blacks in the military maybe"?

Along with Kucinich, Obama was the only other candidate correct about the Iraq war from the beginning. Who would you rather they give their money too; those that had the poor judgement to vote for the war maybe?

[bullimiami]

8. im just not feeling that his war stance would be enough. if so why not kucinich.

i dont think im being racist.
there were a lot of minorities in the military and all things being equal people identify with their own group.
it didnt seem like outlandish speculation.

[maximusveritas]

9. There's a few reasons

For one, Kucinihc is really the only candidate talking about significantly cutting the military budget. While that may be popular here, it's not likely to please military folks.
His Department of Peace is also not likely to get him many votes from the military.

[SergeyDovlatov]

11. Maybe they believe that Obama is anti-war and more electable than Dennis?