authority and respect

Something I've been wondering about for quite a while.To what degree does a soldier's training and conditioning permit him/her freedom of choice in voting for a President in a time of war?Were, in essence, the soldiers in Iraq captives of the GOP? Would they tend to consider it wrong to vote against their commander in chief?Moose

Ramoss, I accept and agree with all that. But that doesn't answer the question of the subtitle and in the message: Does this "respect of the Commander in Chief" tend to preclude their voting against him in a Presidental election? I don't know the answer, but my instincts lean towards "Military obedience = Vote Bush". Not to mention, that they would want to believe that the war is the right thing, which would also incline them to vote Bush.Moose

I would expect that the Reserves and National Guard people would tend to be anti-Bush and the "regular" soldiers would tend to be pro-Bush.Part of a proper election is the free debate of the issues. Being at war in Iraq sure does not seem to be an evironment for open debate on the leadership ability / competence of your commander in chief.I'm not at all suggesting that the soldiers should not be voting. But the war environment sure seems prime to me, for "getting out the vote for the pro-military incumbent".Moose