Sometimes you find an answer by accident after you ask a question…
Why isn’t Kerry campaigning at military bases at all?
Among Veterans: Bush 58% Kerry 35%
48% Have Family or Friends in Iraq or Afghanistan
Do you know anyone currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Yes 48%
No 51%
RasmussenReports.comThursday August 05, 2004–A Rasmussen Reports survey shows that military veterans prefer George W. Bush over John Kerry by a 58% to 35% margin. Those with no military service favor Kerry by ten percentage points, 51% to 41%.
The potential grassroots impact of the war issue is highlighted by the fact that 48% of Americans say they know someone who is currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Among these voters, Bush currently has a ten-point advantage in the poll. Fifty-four percent (54%) of veterans know someone serving in these war zones.
When it comes to perceptions of the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is likely that information from family and friends has a bigger impact than news coverage.
Overall, 47% of voters believe that Bush would make a better Commander-in-Chief than John Kerry. Forty-five percent (45%) take the opposite view and say Kerry would do a better job. This closely reflects the overall voter preference in the race for the White House (on the nights of this survey, Kerry attracted 48% of the total vote to 45% for Bush).
Veterans prefer Bush as Commander-in-Chief by a 60% to 33% margin. Fifty-four percent (54%) of veterans give the President good or excellent ratings for handling the situation in Iraq. Overall, just 43% of voters give the President such positive ratings on Iraq.
The national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports August 3-4, 2004. The sample included 216 military veterans. Margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
So much for the road to the White House going through Vietnam…
Source: Rasmussen Reports