While you probably wonâ€™t hear this on the mainstream media, the Center for Responsive Politics has provided me with information about the military contributions that are going to both parties candidates. While the military heavily favored the Republican Party in the last Presidential Elections, the trend is changing. The top candidate for contributions from military members is surprisingly Ron Paul. This, from a former career military man, warms my heart. This goes to show that military people think, and donâ€™t blindly follow leader's with pro-military agendaâ€™s.

The second highest contributions went to Barak Obama. With the African-American vote and the anti-war feelings running through the military, itâ€™s now small wonder that Obama has received so many contributions. This seems to say that the military thinks that fighting in Iraq is the wrong move if they are putting their money where their mouth is.

Here is the breakdown according to The Center for Responsive Politics that you can see for yourself on their website at OpenSecrets.org.:

MILITARY CONTINUES TO GIVE TO PAUL, OBAMA

Despite his anti-war stance, or perhaps because of it, Ron Paul has collected more money from members of the U.S. military than any other presidential candidate, including John McCain, a Vietnam War prisoner who backs the administration's policy in Iraq. Paul has brought in at least $53,670 from the uniformed services since the campaign's start, compared to McCain's $40,000. Democrat Barack Obama, who opposed the resolution to go to Iraq from the start, is the number-two recipient with at least $45,200. (Obama had been ahead of Paul after the 2nd Quarter.) The contribution record of the military has become less Republican since the Iraq war began, and some donors say they're contributing to express dissatisfaction with the Bush administration's handling of the war and foreign policy. Tallying donations exceeding $200, Democrats have received 35 percent of the total $319,000 in contributions from uniformed service members this year. By comparison, in 2000, the last presidential race before the Iraq war began, Democrats received only 18 percent of contributions from the military.

*Read a Capital Eye story from September about military giving: http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=300

So the next time that some redneck or neo-con tells you that supporting Paul or Obama is â€œNot supporting the Troopsâ€, you tell them that the troops themselves are supporting these candidates.

Thatâ€™s the way I see it.

_______

Timothy V. Gatto

