●Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama(2)_自考专本|专升本|高升专|高升本|在职研究生-学历教育网

"One possibly mundane explanation (for the tilt in contributions from deployed soldiers) is that the Obama campaign has just been so much savvier with web-based donors. It may be a logistical question," Belkin pointed out.

Army Specialist Jay Navas contributed $250 while deployed in Iraq, but it wasn't over the Internet. "It took some effort to get that check. I had my mom send me my checkbook and I walked to the post office in Camp Liberty in Baghdad with an envelope addressed to Barack Obama in Chicago, Illinois," he said. "He was right on Iraq long when others were jumping into the sea like lemmings, and that's hard to do. We're soldiers and we respect courage."

Only the Coast Guard prefers Democrats across the board, with 78 percent of employees' total federal contributions going to members of that party, and Obama beating McCain $7,795 to $250. Navas anecdotally confirmed that soldiers are often conservative but that many are making an exception in the presidential race. "Most of my friends are conservative Republicans and they say, 'I'm voting for Barack.' McCain does not have a lock on the military vote, that's for sure," he said. "We'll complete our duty -- I'm deploying next year -- because it's a commitment I made to the nation, not to a president. But we all know that Iraq was a big mistake."

The decisions of the U.S. government affect Navas more than most Americans, he said.

"What happens politically in America affects us immediately," he said. "As soon as the surge was ordered, my tour was extended, just by a pronouncement from the president. For very few Americans can the president say something and your lives are changed."

Contributions from All Military Personnel

Recipient Total Number

Obama, Barack $335,536 859

McCain, John $280,513 558

Paul, Ron $232,411 537

Clinton, Hillary $167,050 376

Republican National Cmte $135,902 219

Huckabee, Mike $66,751 127

Thompson, Fred $46,400 93

Romney, Mitt $43,307 96

Giuliani, Rudolph W $22,050 47

National Republican Senatorial Cmte $21,885 26