The conventional wisdom suggests President Obama will struggle to win military votes, thanks in part to the Republican Party's traditional edge. But that what makes reports like these all the more interesting (via Joan McCarter).
Foreign policy, military funding and plans for U.S. troops abroad are providing plenty of chewy campaign fodder for President Barack Obama and his GOP rival, Mitt Romney. But fundraising reports shed light on what the armed forces think about the candidates. [...][T]he military's support has shifted toward Obama. Romney has consistently received little financial backing from military donors.
Based on reporting from the Center for Responsive Politics, including September fundraising, Obama has received $678,611 from military donors, far more than Romney's total of $398,450. As it turns out, Romney figure also narrowly trails Ron Paul's $399,274 in contributions from the military.
It's worth clarifying that "military donors" include contributions from members of the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, National Guard, Coast Guard, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Defense Acquisition University, and Americans in NATO. The most campaign donations have come from the Department of Defense itself, which heavily favors Obama over Romney.
McCarter added, "Military personnel overwhelmingly support Obama over Romney despite the pending cuts to defense. That could be because Obama has kept his promise to bring the wars to an end and because to Mitt Romney, the troops aren't anything more than an item on a laundry list."