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Study: Obama has more to gain than Romney from military endorsements
A new study found that President Obama has more to gain than Mitt Romney by winning endorsements of military and veterans officials.
The report, released Monday by the Center for a New American Security, conducted surveys with registered voters to find out whether having the support of “most members of the military and veterans” helped improve the candidates' standing with voters.
The results found that military endorsements were of some benefit to Obama, but they did not give an added boost to Romney.
“Our analysis suggests that Obama probably stands to gain from military endorsements more than Romney,” the authors write. “One reason might be long-standing Republican ‘issue ownership’ of foreign policy and national security during the past six decades.”
As for Romney, the authors wrote there was “some evidence” that the GOP challenger could benefit, along with Obama, from the support of one group of voters: “ ‘pure’ independents, those respondents who refuse to choose a party even when pressed to do so.”
Both the Obama and Romney campaigns have made veterans issue a major part of the race, and have actively reached out to veteran voters in military-heavy battleground states like Virginia.
The CNAS report also examined whether military endorsements, even by former officials, damage the perception of the military as a nonpartisan institution.
“Our survey provides, at most, limited support for the claim that endorsements politicize the military in the short term,” the study says. “However, it does provide some evidence that endorsements and politicization may undermine confidence in the military as an institution over the long term.”
