Vets Not A Sure Thing For McCain In SC

(AP) — John McCain seems like a natural presidential pick for veterans in South Carolina, a decorated POW of the Vietnam War in a military-friendly state.

The Republican senator has been running campaign ads that touch on his war record. His “No Surrender” tour spent days here in the fall as he focused on the Iraq war. And many veterans are in his corner.

But, in keeping with the volatile primary season, the veteran vote is just not that simple. The economy and health care are factors for military retirees, and most say they vote for a person – not a uniform. Plus, and hold on to your green berets, some are Democrats.

“Veterans have a lot in common with other voters in this state and that makes it hard to pigeonhole them,” said Danielle Vinson, a political science professor at Furman University. “In the past, the veterans have not been a consistent voting bloc.”

The Sept. 11 attacks have made national security more of a worry for people than it was eight years ago, which could help McCain, Vinson said. Polls taken by The Associated Press and a consortium of television networks of people who voted in the 2000 GOP primary showed veterans split their votes about equally between McCain, an Arizona senator, and George W. Bush, who won here.

More than any of his rivals this time, McCain is speaking directly to veterans during campaign events and in ads that stress veteran health care and his nearly seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The message resonates in a state with major Army, Air Force and Marine Corps installations and among families with relatives among the 1,500 National Guard troops serving in Afghanistan during the state’s largest, single-unit deployment since World War II.

“The rest of these jokers don’t say anything about veterans, except McCain,” said Ronnie Alexander, a 61-year-old who served in the Army in Vietnam and who now sports a McCain campaign sticker on his jacket.

But in interviews with some of the 413,000 veterans who live in this state of 4 million, few said they should be considered a bloc that votes in lockstep.

“I always vote for the individual,” said Cecil Buchanan, a World War II Army veteran who said he’s been a lifelong Democrat but could consider casting a vote for McCain. “I like his ideas.”

Buchanan, 79, said he approves of McCain’s idea of allowing veterans to visit private physicians instead of only being treated at VA hospitals, and his promises to rein in pork-barrel spending.

South Carolina’s split primary dates – Republicans vote a week before the Democratic primary on Jan. 26 – has some veterans trying to decide when to vote. Residents here may cast their ballots in either primary, but not both.

Veterans worried about health care and the economy said they have to consider New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s work on behalf of medical care for National Guard troops, and also are attracted to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for his ads on curbing the high cost of prescription medications.

Eugene Mitchell, 57, who began his military career as a Vietnam-era draftee at age 18 and retired in 2006 after serving in Iraq with South Carolina’s National Guard, said he’s still considering which candidate in which party he’ll support.

A registered Democrat who is black, Mitchell said he’s supported candidates from both parties in the past. With fuel prices high and jobs getting scarcer, the economy has become the major factor for him.

“If war were the only issue, I could easily vote for McCain. But there are a lot more concerns out there – so I may go for Obama, maybe Hillary. I’ll have to decide,” said Mitchell, a Columbia-area resident who works in law enforcement.

Some religious veterans said Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, appeals to them. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is attractive to veterans who now run small businesses and his win in economically strapped Michigan may help him rise in a state where surveys have had McCain and Huckabee in front.

One older veteran said McCain’s age – he’s 71 – and POW history are of concern for him.

“I’m concerned those seven years took a lot out of him and I’m not sure he’d last,” said Angelo Perry, a 78-year-old Army retiree. “He’d have to pick a VP candidate that voters know could step in if necessary.”

But 22-year-old Trace Parker, who’s put in three years with the Army National Guard and wants to fly Apache helicopters, watched McCain at recent rally in this city in the northern part of the state and was impressed with McCain’s vitality.

“I think he’ll do just fine,” said Parker, who noted that his 74-year-old grandfather still works 70-hour weeks. “I have no doubt he’ll be able to do the job.”