--- Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
>
> Bush is a perfect incarnation of these two traits,
> whereas both Clinton and
> Gore were too effeminate and intellectual. That
> explains why the American
> male loves the former and passionately hates the
> later. Any suggestion
> that there is anything else but that gut reaction in
> the political
> consciousness of teh American male (regardless of
> his socio-economic
> status) borders on gross overestimation of his
> intelligence.
>
> wojtek
I recently had an interesting discussion with a co-worker who is originally from India that had some relevance to what Wojtek said. He believes that military personnel tend to favor GOPhers because they are perceived as less likely to involve the military in a conflict. Recent GOP noise opposing "Clinton's war in the Balkans" may indeed contribute to that perception. However, I think it is more related to the residual of the Vietnam protests. Regardless of historical accuracy, liberals and Democrats are still perceived as being opposed to fighting. Young men and women have a harder time distinguishing between "opposed to fighting" and "opposed to fighting an unjust war". The young men and women in the armed forces see themselves as "fighting for right and freedom". If this is to change, liberals and Democrats would have to make it easier for them to understand that criticism of the policies that lead to certain conflict is not criticism of them as patriots or defenders of the constitution.
Adam
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