Which Republican Candidate Got the Most Donations from U.S. Soldiers?
If you really care about “supporting our troops”, then you’ll want to know who our troops support. The following percentages of presidential campaign donations to Republican candidates was calculated by TheSpinFactor.com using the July 2007 Finance Reports:
52.5% Ron Paul
35.4% McCain
7.9% Romney
5.2% Giuliani
2.2% Hunter
2.6% Others
Note: These statistics include the contributions of employees who recorded or indicated their military branch. Contributions where no employer was specified were naturally not included. (h/t Daily Dish)
July 17th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Apologies to Eric, who already posted these stats.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
No problem, LeftHook - we can’t promote this enough!
FYI - here is the post of mine that LeftHook references here - “Bush, Neo-Con ‘Surge the Surge’ Myopia Leads to Pro-Ron Paul Surge from Military?” - found here:
http://tinyurl.com/36kc5c
July 17th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
“Contributions where no employer was specified were naturally not included.”
LOL
Of course they weren’t. Did you see the numbers that go along with that conveniently ‘not included’ category?
Paul’s a joke, as is this “ooh, look who the military supports!” selective use of statistics.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Jim
How else would you look at the numbers?
July 17th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
John,
I would consider these numbers much more indicative of Paul’s future than where he got about enough money to buy a local TV spot (1 local TV spot, maybe 2 if he buys smartly):
Zogby America Poll 7/12-14, 2007:
Fred Thompson 22%
Rudy Giuliani 21%
Mitt Romney 11%
John McCain 9%
do dah, do dah….back benchers, then
Ron Paul 1% (down from 3% in March before he blamed America for 9/11).
Keep dreaming folks…Paul should follow Jim Gilmore and check out before completely embarrasing himself.
July 17th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Bart
You do not care what the military thinks?
July 17th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Jim: Do you have some reason to believe that including (if possible) the military donors that did not specify their employer (i.e. the military) would significatly change the percentages?
In other words, is there some reason to think that Romney supporters were less likely than Paul supporters to fill in the ‘employer’ field?
July 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
The point isn’t the amount of money, BB, but the percentage of support from military families. I take it as a statistically valid poll of the support Ron Paul has earned from military types.
BTW, see the other thread: Gallup has Paul up to 3%.
July 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Just to clarify, that “other thread” I was referring to is the “Gilmore Gone” thread. Here is what I posted there:
Here’s one, BB: Gallup has Paul up to 3% - which means his support is growing:
http://tinyurl.com/2moxll
Plus, many pollsters suspect that his Internet following is not the normal audience that is contacted in these phone surveys, so his support is likely much more.
Either way, why anyone would place any faith or stock in these polls at this early date - esp. as a measure of a candidate’s “credibility” - is beyond me, as I explained in my post, “If Jimmy, Michael, Bill, and John Could Do It, Why Can’t Ron?” - found here:
http://tinyurl.com/2d24lg
July 17th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Bart
Do you hate the troops as much as hate the CIA and American workers?
July 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
bb’s right, of course. We should just dispense with campaigns, debates and elections and go with the first polls taken, no matter how many years from the (now unnessary) election they are.
July 17th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
bb: Why are you teasing us this way?
I know you want to insult the soldiers that donated to Paul.
You know you want to.
JUST DO IT ALREADY ! ! !
(The suspense is killing me!)
July 17th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Eric,
Are you implying that Ron Paul has support from 53% of military families because he raised $23,000 from a small group of them?
Let’s split the poll difference…he has 2%…throw a Paul party!
July 17th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
He has 53% support from those who care enough to give, at least. Pretty amazing, huh?!
July 17th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Eric
Bart hates the troops!
July 17th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
John,
Have you stopped beating your wife yet?
OK, can we move on from the BS or is the sandbox still in need of more puerile banter?
July 17th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Bart
So now you get it! Are you upset that Congressman Price said that people who disagree with him on Iraq are providing “comfort to the enemy”?
How does that help the troops?
July 17th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
The same method was used to calculate each set of donations, i.e. the listed employer. Paul, from a much smaller number of donors, pulled it much more than the others.
No matter how you look at that, it’s impressive. Unless somehow Giuliani’s much larger contributor base (as an example) is less likely for some reason to list their employer if they are military. There’s no reason to assume such, so the contrast is quite astonishing.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
I think the donations reflect that 70 to 80 % of Americans are not happy with President Bush’s Iraq policy! And that the polls in the military show that a majority of the troops also do not support Bush’s policy bottom line!
July 17th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
John
As I’m so fond of telling my friend Al, IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT THE TROOPS THINK of the policy!
Under our Constitution, the Commander in Chief (aka President Bush) gets to make the calls. NOT the MSM, NOT the troops, NOT the polls, NOT JOHN KONOP. The President. That’s what it says. I suggest you read it.
I’ve had it up to my ears with you defeatists. I have no less than 30 friends serving in the sand box and to a man they’re proud of what they’re doing because they know it’s important and they know it’s their sworn duty. They’re just average guys, but they have guts, honor, and to use Al’s phrase, they’re “tough guys” doing a job worthy of your support and respect. Don’t belittle what these people are doing because some “poll” that may or may not be accurate says this or that or some talking head says so.
Did you ever consider that the cut and run crew is AFRAID we might actually be winning and THAT might hurt them politically? You might want to consider that. Consider this…what difference does it make if we wait until September when we get the report? Will 60 days mean that much? It’s more likely these people are afraid that the report will show REAL progress and that won’t be good for them politically. Come on John…wise up. It’s so clear a blind man could see it.
Winning wars is expensive until you consider the cost of losing them.
Bart Brannon for U.S. Senate -I’ve changed my mind!
July 17th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
SgtMac: I was interested to read more about the opinions of your “no less than 30 friends serving in the sand box…”
But then I remembered, “IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT THE TROOPS THINK of the policy!”
July 17th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Left - For what it’s worth, they’d just as soon be home in the land of the big PX. However, as I said they don’t get to make that decision and they’re proud to serve their Nation in the capacity they’ve chosen.
Any more questions? If so read the part of the Constitution that talks about the Commander in Chief.
Bart Brannon for U.S. Senate - I’m switching horses!
July 17th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Bart
Bart could run on his platform of an illegal immigrant in every home!
July 17th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Thanks Mac…it’s a damn shame troops in the sandbox don’t hear more of what you write vs. the constant barrage of defeatism coming from the MSM.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Sgt.Mac. re your post #20:
Interesting that many troops are supporting Ron Paul. You will recall that Dr. Paul was against the Iraq venture from the start.
My personal feeling is that this war was partially at the demand of Israel and I’m certainly not willing to die for another nation. As more troops find that fact out, you will find a sea change in attitudes!
July 17th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Wow.
105.8% support GOPers . . . does that mean support for Democrats is -5.8%, or that the data is wrong?
GIGO
July 17th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Ah, my mistake: only Republican’t candidates.
So, the -5.8% are defectors or Bushies?
July 18th, 2007 at 1:06 am
Let’s just take a look at how this data was compiled:
http://ronpauldelaware.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/military-favors-ron-paul-over-mccain/
“This table expresses in dollars the total campaign contributions that each candidate has received from individuals who marked “Air Force,” “US Marines,” “USMC,” “Army,” “Navy,” or some other such permutation of letters as their employer that gives the appearance that they are a member of the armed services. The “veteran” column was derived by looking for “retired ______,” “______ retired,” or anything containing the word veteran, with the exception of Veterans’ Affairs (or the like).”
So Ron Paul supporters have been sending in their donations marked “military” or “retired military” or “anything that gives the appearance that they belong to the military”. Again, Ron Paul always appears on top of any self-directed poll. I wouldn’t trust any candidate who has to resort to creating poll propaganda to garner support. He (or his connected supporters) obviously believe he can not stand alone on his platform and policies.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:21 am
The troops are anti-American.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:24 am
Yet another “gem” from Al. How DO you do it?
Bart Brannon for U.S. Senate - Let’s put some sanity back in the Nation!
July 18th, 2007 at 5:37 am
Al, its “the troups”, not the “troops.”