Support for Ron Paul by the Military...

The Ron Paul campaign has claimed the following:

Active duty soldiers overwhelmingly support Ron Paul as their next commander in chief.  Now, I asked a Ron Paul Supporter to prove the claim, and I was directed to the Federal Elections web site.

Here is the link

http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2011/Q3/C00495820/A_EMPLOYER_C00495820.html

Keep in mind that the site only reports dollar amounts, but not actual numbers of people.  Here are what they report by employer

Army...585.98
UUS Army...60.00  (I assume this is a mis-print)
US Army...16,092.86
US Army/DOD...250.00

Army Total...16,988.84

Now, I have checked the Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bauchmann contributions, and they contributions by military-associated persons is negligible.  So yes,  the overwhelming majority of dollars coming from those who list the US Army as an employer are for Ron Paul.  More than any other candidate. More than Romney, Bauchmann and Gingrich combined.

Now, let's assume that each person who contributed to Ron Paul donated a dollar.  That means that 16,988.84 soldiers contributed to the Ron Paul campaign.  It's a big stretch, but I'm giving Ron Paul people the benefit of the doubt.  This would mean that 3.39% of the Army financially supports Ron Paul, with an active duty force of 500,000.

Now, lets shed some reality on the subject, from the perspective of someone who spent five years on active duty, myself.

1.  The majority of people who contribute to campaigns usually contribute more than 1 dollar.  Let's say the average contribution per person is a modest 25 per person; which is very modest, but most politically active soldiers can afford 25.  This means that 670 people employed by the Army financially supported Ron Paul.  This means that 1/10 of 1% of Army supports Ron Paul.  But that is still more than Romney, Bauchmann and Gingrich combined.

2.  The Army, and all other branches of the service employ civilians.  These people would also list US Army as an employer.  About 330,000 full-time civilians are employed full-time by the Army, in fact, where there are about 500,000 active duty soldiers in the Army.  Therefore, only 66% of people employed full-time by the Army are active duty soldiers.  66% of 670 people is 442.  That is less than 1/10 of 1% of active duty soldiers have contributed to Ron Paul's campaign.  Again, I think this is giving Paul people the benefit of the doubt.  Most people who contribute to campaigns contribute more that 25 dollars.  Now, the contribution to the Ron Paul campaign could be more soldiers than civilians, and it could be the other way round.  There is no way to tell.  For all we know it could be all civilians, and it could be all active duty.  The reports are not that granular.  We are just assuming it is the same mix as they Army as a whole.

So yes, more military people contribute to money to Ron Paul's campaign than all of the other candidates combined.  It says something.  But not what Ron Paul's people think it does.  It's like the claim in the Trident commercials...9 out of 10 dentists recommend sugarless gum, but that does not mean they recommend Trident.  We do not know if these all or any of these contributors are active duty soldiers.  Here are some other facts about the military that people should understand.

Military people can financially contribute to a campaign, financially.  But NCO's and Officers are not allowed to voice their support for anyone while in uniform, other than to say that they support the decisions made by the President and by Congress.  This does not mean that they will vote for the President or current members of Congress.  The reason is concern that their voice could be interpreted as coercion to vote a certain way.  There is also concern that in uniform support could be interpreted as support by the military as a whole.

Also keep in mind that many military families struggle to make ends meet.  And, military life is so demanding that many military people do not get involved in politics at all.  But they do vote.  They do not vote as a block.

The Armed Forces draw from America as a whole and the force is really a minor, mirror-image of America as a whole.  Perhaps there are sectors of society that supply more soldiers than others, and sectors that supply fewer soldiers.  But the military that I served in was a microcosm of the entire country.

Therefore, there are supporters of Ron Paul in the Active Duty Military.  But there are also supporters of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich and all of the other GOP candidates.  Even if no other candidate gets financial support from military members.  There are also members of the military who want to see President Obama get another term.  I am willing to offer a Mitt Romney-type wager to prove it.  In fact, I could probably drive to the nearest military post to my residence, find an Obama supporter in uniform and be back before my dog knew I was gone.

Ron Paul has also promised to bring home soldiers serving in Afghanistan, and Germany, and England and South Korea and every other foreign shore.  I was in the military during the 1990's draw down.  It was a very difficult thing to experience, even when the economy was good and the lion share of my brothers in arms found civilian jobs very quickly.  In today's economy, it is much more difficult for recently de-activated veterans to find work.  It was a difficult adjustment for me when I left the Armed Forces in 1997.  I found my new job within a month, and it took me another 2 months to find another job less than a year later after I was fired from my first job.  But remember, this was 1997 and 1998.  Unemployment is quadruple what it was them.  (The only time I was ever fired, by the way.  I was fired because my boss did not believe that anyone can make the transition from public sector to private sector.  I will admit that it is very difficult to go from the military to complete self-reliance.)

Imagine what it would do to the psyche of our country to suddenly put about 200,000 military people on the streets.  Imagine the outcry if most of these soldiers were still looking for work a year later.  Any President who would be bold enough to do this will likely be a one-term President.  But Ron Paul has said, "let's just bring them home."  Nothing more, nothing less.

Would you support the hire of a CEO at your company who promised lay-offs?  Well, maybe you think it will not be you that would lose your job.  Maybe you would because you think it is the best for the long-term survivability of your company.  Maybe you believe that the company will get rid of the dead beats, and will keep good employees.  Maybe you believe that your company shouldn't meddle in certain markets.  This describes most Ron Paul supporters.  They believe that Ron Paul is what this country needs.  They are very vocal about it and very passionate about what they believe.  Most people, I'm guessing, would not want their company to hire a CEO who was a only hatchet man, whose sole purpose is to lay people off.

Let me also state that Mitt Romney and most of the Tea Party-minded candidates will cut the size of the Federal Government and will lay off people who believed that they had a life-time job and career.  There may even be some military cut backs if one of the other GOP candidates gets elected.  There will even be some overseas bases closed.  But the cut backs to the military will not be a steep as they will be if Ron Paul gets elected.

One person I spoke to said that returning soldiers could work the jobs that deported illegal immigrants are now working.  My response was, "you first."  Personally, I think those willing to lay down their lives for our freedom deserve better.