A fierce volley of campaign attack ads on military service and speeches directly to veterans signaled an escalation in the fight for the military vote in the American presidency race this week. In a tight race with a wartime backdrop, soldiers and veterans might just make the difference.
George Bush held a solid 15 point lead among the veterans before the Democratic National Convention. Now Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry are neck in neck. With the ongoing wars in Iraq and on Islamic terror groups, both candidates are doing everything they can to enlist the support of the armed services.
Click one of the “Listen” links to hear about the candidates’ battle in mining the military vote.
Guests:
John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International, one of the nation’s leading polling services
Christopher Gelpi, associate professor of political science, Duke University and co-author of the new book, “Choosing Your Battles: American Civil Military Relations and the Use of Force”
Lt. Colonel Joe Repya, USAR (Ret.), Minnesota Veterans Co-Chair for Bush/Cheney ‘04
Sergeant Doug Clifford, USAF (Ret), Massachusetts Veterans coordinator for Kerry/Edwards ‘04.
