[HARDCORE]

ALG Editor’s Note: In the following featured report from the Washington Times, President Donald Trump continues to have high approval ratings among the nations’ vetera

Big voting bloc as military vets view Trump as the master commander

By Jennifer Harper

Military veterans have consistently positive sentiments about President Trump — a dynamic factor that could come into play in the 2020 election. Indeed, military vets make up 13 percent of the entire voting population according to a recent New York Times analysis which, uh, focused on the Democratic Party’s failure to connect with this demographic.

The vets feel pretty good about Mr. Trump.

A Pew Research Center survey released in July found that 57 percent of all vets approve of the job Mr. Trump is doing as commander in chief. Among Republican veterans, the number is an astonishing 92 percent.

“Approval of Trump does not differ significantly by era of military service. Looking specifically at veterans who served before 9/11 and those whose service extended beyond 9/11, nearly identical shares say they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as commander in chief. In addition, there is no significant gap in views between veterans who served as commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers or those who were enlisted,” the poll analysis said.

Now comes some more nuanced findings. These perhaps reflect the global image of Mr. Trump, particularly among those who might want to challenge him in future days.

“Veterans are even more convinced these days that President Trump is a stronger military commander in chief than most of his recent predecessors in the White House,” says a new Rasmussen Reports voter survey.

It found that 60 percent of likely U.S. voters who are either now in the military or have served in the past see Mr. Trump as a stronger commander in chief than “most recent presidents.” That’s up from 53 percent in June of last year.

A third of the respondents felt Mr. Trump was a weaker commander; just 5 percent rate his performance about the same as his presidential peers of the past. The survey of 1,000 likely military voters was conducted October 29-30.