US Military No Longer Has a Republican Majority

Hamiltonian

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Sep 14, 2006
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"BURIED IN THE NEWS last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. In the 2004 poll, the percentage of military respondents who characterized themselves as Republicans stood at 60%. By the end of 2005, that had dropped to 56%. And by the end of 2006, the percentage of military Republicans plummeted to 46%.

The drop in Republican Party identification among active-duty personnel is a sharp reversal of a 30-year trend toward the "Republicanization" of the U.S. military, and it could mark a sea change in the nature of the military — and the nature of public debates about national security issues..."

You can find the rest of the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks5jan05,0,3406790.column?coll=la-opinion-center

Although I do not support some of his ideas at the end of the article about a primarily Republican Military being dangerous, but I thought that it was interesting that there was this shift in the military. It makes me wonder how morale is doing.
 
"BURIED IN THE NEWS last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. In the 2004 poll, the percentage of military respondents who characterized themselves as Republicans stood at 60%. By the end of 2005, that had dropped to 56%. And by the end of 2006, the percentage of military Republicans plummeted to 46%.

The drop in Republican Party identification among active-duty personnel is a sharp reversal of a 30-year trend toward the "Republicanization" of the U.S. military, and it could mark a sea change in the nature of the military — and the nature of public debates about national security issues..."

You can find the rest of the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks5jan05,0,3406790.column?coll=la-opinion-center

Although I do not support some of his ideas at the end of the article about a primarily Republican Military being dangerous, but I thought that it was interesting that there was this shift in the military. It makes me wonder how morale is doing.

I think it would be better if they took off the political handcuffs. Asking people if they support Bushs' Iraq policy is such a bullshit question. It could mean half of them want him to tell the Dems to get screwed. It's wide open to misinterpetation.
 
A 3% shift on some 6,000 polled going to the Democrats; a 7% shift on the poll going Independent; and a -12% shift on the poll going Republican doesn't really scare me much. If we look at the first category (political ideology) we see a corresponding shift of 1% for liberal and very liberal categories; a 4% shift for moderates, and a -5% shift for conservatives. So as far as the poll goes, the results do seem somewhat consistent.

However, I would point out that the survey was somewhat simplistic, asking very simple questions in small number (18 questions). Had the survey been more detailed (and more specific on aspects of the war on terror), then perhaps the numbers would hold more significance for me.

As it is, the numbers indicate only a slight shift in political identity for those website subscribers polled, and that shift seems more towards self-identifying as moderate than as conservative.

What was interesting was that 62% identified themselves as having earned at least a baccalaureate degree, perhaps exposing the lie that our military is uneducated. Again, this presupposes that the subscribers polled are actual military personnel.

http://www.militarycity.com/polls/
 
Remember they work for the President so there political views or values really don't matter because those rights were given up once they joined the service. And polls really don't matter anyway it is an excuse to point fingers or show negativity. So saying that is the main reason I got out was Clinton and his doing more with less campaign. Who I vote for really didn’t matter because we did what we were told to do anyways.
 
A few comments:

1. The officer corps has been more conservative/GOP than the enlisted ranks for a generation, at least. This poll didn't quote any of the officer/enlisted numbers. I'd be interested to see those to see if this is an across the board trend.

2. Fewer people in general are willing to be identified as GOP, so it doesn't surprise me that this trend is extending to the military.
 
I think it would be better if they took off the political handcuffs. Asking people if they support Bushs' Iraq policy is such a bullshit question. It could mean half of them want him to tell the Dems to get screwed. It's wide open to misinterpetation.

"BURIED IN THE NEWS last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. ....

Looks like dillo's nailed it. The poll questions were apparently designed to solicit a desired outcome.

I've been polled before and I thought the same of the questions that they asked me.
 
Looks like dillo's nailed it. The poll questions were apparently designed to solicit a desired outcome.

I've been polled before and I thought the same of the questions that they asked me.

I would agree in absolute terms about the demographics of the Army, that is you can't exactly conclude what percent of the Army is Dem or Rep. However, you can ask the same skewed question again later and get a difference in your responses and that, in fact, is informative as to whether the Army is becoming more Democratic or more Republican. What I thought was interesting about the article was not the absolute percent of Dems and Reps in the Army, but that there was this great change in responses and opinion over the past year.
 
I would agree in absolute terms about the demographics of the Army, that is you can't exactly conclude what percent of the Army is Dem or Rep. However, you can ask the same skewed question again later and get a difference in your responses and that, in fact, is informative as to whether the Army is becoming more Democratic or more Republican. What I thought was interesting about the article was not the absolute percent of Dems and Reps in the Army, but that there was this great change in responses and opinion over the past year.

On a more serious note, how many people that even take these polls, take them SERIOULY?

Might not the responses change with the weather?

Is honesty a given?

I thought, that most polls had a plus or minus of 3 to 4 points.

Polls, are like opinions, they are worth, EXACTLY what YOU paid for them, get it?
 
I would agree in absolute terms about the demographics of the Army, that is you can't exactly conclude what percent of the Army is Dem or Rep. However, you can ask the same skewed question again later and get a difference in your responses and that, in fact, is informative as to whether the Army is becoming more Democratic [sic] or more Republican. What I thought was interesting about the article was not the absolute percent of Dems and Reps in the Army, but that there was this great change in responses and opinion over the past year.

As has been pointed out, the poll is rather meaningless, as it could have been easliy skewed many ways. Based on the stated opinions of the author, the chances of that are likey near 100%.
 
As has been pointed out, the poll is rather meaningless, as it could have been easliy skewed many ways. Based on the stated opinions of the author, the chances of that are likey near 100%.

The author of the article was not related to the poll, which was performed by Military Times, a military publication that seems targeted towards soldiers as their audience. This opinion writer from the L.A. Times was merely commenting on the results of the poll. Honestly I don't think questions like "Regardless of whether you think the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq, how likely is the U.S. to succeed?" or "Do you approve or disapprove of the way President George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq?" or "Should the U.S. have gone to war in Iraq?" are biased or designed to solicit a desired outcome.
 
"BURIED IN THE NEWS last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. In the 2004 poll, the percentage of military respondents who characterized themselves as Republicans stood at 60%. By the end of 2005, that had dropped to 56%. And by the end of 2006, the percentage of military Republicans plummeted to 46%.

The drop in Republican Party identification among active-duty personnel is a sharp reversal of a 30-year trend toward the "Republicanization" of the U.S. military, and it could mark a sea change in the nature of the military — and the nature of public debates about national security issues..."

You can find the rest of the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks5jan05,0,3406790.column?coll=la-opinion-center

Although I do not support some of his ideas at the end of the article about a primarily Republican Military being dangerous, but I thought that it was interesting that there was this shift in the military. It makes me wonder how morale is doing.

I wasn't aware the military had a Republican majority. What I do know is that most military personnel who have made it past their first tour are by and large conservative or conservative-leaning. Only junior troops and minorities tend to be liberal.

It's the nature of the beast. The military and military lifestyle is more conducive to conservatives than liberals. Instead of squaring away their uniforms for inspections, liberals want to tell you how you're violating their rights making them dress a certain way and get up early in the morning.:cool:
 
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I wasn't aware the military had a Republican majority. What I do know is that most military personnel who have made it past their first tour are by and large conservative or conservative-leaning. Only junior troops and minorities tend to be liberal.

It's the nature of the beast. The military and military lifestyle is more conducive to conservatives than liberals. Instead of squaring away their uniforms for inspections, liberals want to tell you how you're violating their rights making them dress a certain way and get up early in the morning.:cool:

Very true. Also, I think Guard and Reserve members tend to be more "liberal" than their active duty counterparts.
 
Very true. Also, I think Guard and Reserve members tend to be more "liberal" than their active duty counterparts.

I have to disagree. I did two tours as an I-I and most of the Reservists I dealt with were very conservative. A lot of the senior folks were management or ran a small business. Young folks in general (read junior enlisted and officers) tended to be more liberal. As reality kicks in, they tended to turn conservative.
 
....I don't think questions like .... are biased or designed to solicit a desired outcome.

...... A lot of the senior folks were management or ran a small business. Young folks in general (read junior enlisted and officers) tended to be more liberal. As reality kicks in, they tended to turn conservative.

As such, a possible explanation of how the poll was ginned.
 
I have to disagree. I did two tours as an I-I and most of the Reservists I dealt with were very conservative. A lot of the senior folks were management or ran a small business. Young folks in general (read junior enlisted and officers) tended to be more liberal. As reality kicks in, they tended to turn conservative.

I suspect too that the Guard and Reserve members reflect the communitites where they live. Try talking to a guardsman from Boston. Its an eye opener!

I will say that the Guard member from Boston may APPEAR to be a bit more liberal than one from say Texas, that same Guardsman looks like a right wing radical compared to a some civilians that inhabit the "Great Commonwealth of Massacheussetts".
 
I suspect too that the Guard and Reserve members reflect the communitites where they live. Try talking to a guardsman from Boston. Its an eye opener!

I will say that the Guard member from Boston may APPEAR to be a bit more liberal than one from say Texas, that same Guardsman looks like a right wing radical compared to a some civilians that inhabit the "Great Commonwealth of Massacheussetts".

Agreed. As a former inmate of that penal colony, I can attest that an extreme right winger in Mass. is roughly equal to the average North Carolinian. Same for New York.
 
I suspect too that the Guard and Reserve members reflect the communitites where they live. Try talking to a guardsman from Boston. Its an eye opener!

I will say that the Guard member from Boston may APPEAR to be a bit more liberal than one from say Texas, that same Guardsman looks like a right wing radical compared to a some civilians that inhabit the "Great Commonwealth of Massacheussetts".

There is that. "Great Commonwealth......" heh :rofl:
 

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