Poll: Romney tops Obama by 28 points among male veterans
A new Gallup poll released on Memorial Day shows male veterans breaking strongly for Mitt Romney over President Obama.
The presumptive GOP nominee receives support from 58 percent of all veteran registered voters surveyed to Obama’s 34 percent. Among non-veterans though, Obama holds a four point edge, with 48 percent to Romney’s 44.
{mosads}Gallup says veterans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population.
The breakdown of the veteran vote also mirrors the gender gap seen among all voters and male voters are seen giving Romney a solid block of support. Romney has the backing of 60 percent of male veterans to Obama’s 32.
Among female veterans Obama holds a five-point edge, with 47 percent to 42, however Gallup says the size of the female veteran electorate is dwarfed by the number of male veteran voters.
Twenty-four percent of all adult men are veterans compared to 2 percent of adult women.
“About a fourth of men are veterans, and it is their strong skew toward Romney that essentially creates the GOP candidate’s leading position among men today,” said Gallup’s pollsters in a release. “Among nonveteran men, Obama and Romney are essentially tied.”
The poll found Romney with a 1 point lead among non-veteran men with 46 percent to 45.
The age of veteran voters makes little difference with younger veterans as likely to support Romney as older veterans.
For veterans under the age of 50, Romney has 59 percent to Obama’s 32. For veterans aged 80 to 89, Romney posts a similar edge with 60 percent support to Obama at 35.
The poll finds the presidential contenders tied among all registered voters at 46 percent. Among men, Romney leads by 8 points 50 to 42 percent. Obama leads among women 49 to 42 percent.
The poll’s numbers suggest that Obama’s efforts to court veteran voters and military families have failed to resonate.
Last month, the campaign announced efforts to engage military voters through the “Veterans and Military Families for Obama” effort. In a video the president and first lady touted the administration’s work “supporting veterans” and making “military families a top priority.”
In his weekly address on Saturday, Obama also paid tribute to those Americans who fought and died in the nation’s wars.
“On Memorial Day, we come together as Americans to let these families and veterans know that they are not alone,” he said.
The president will visit Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday to honor those who died in battle.
The Gallup poll was conducted as part of a daily tracking survey from April 11 to May 24 and has a 1 percent margin of error.
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