Polls Indicate Mitt Romney Beatings Obama Among Veterans In Key Battleground States as Military Vets Retreat Away from the President

US Military veterans are abandoning Barack Hussein Obama, the Commander Campaigner in Chief  in droves. It would appear that military veterans want a new Commander in Chief, not a Campaigner in Chief, not a Golfer in Chief, not a Divider in Chief, not a Vacationer in Chief and certainly not Eye Candy in Chief.

President Barack Obama is trying hard to win veterans, but it looks like they’d prefer a new commander in chief.

The Obama campaign had been hoping that veterans and their families — especially among the post-Sept. 11 generation that served in Iraq and Afghanistan — would be part of their path to victory: They’re a high turn-out demographic and concentrated in battleground states, with nearly 1 million each in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, and 1.6 million in Florida.

But recent polls make clear that the president’s campaign is losing the battle. Even as Obama leads in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Virginia, Mitt Romney is up by double digits among veterans in those states. Nationwide, he’s got a commanding 20-percentage-point lead over Obama and has even overtaken the president with younger veterans.

Instead, even as Obama has been gaining in the overall polls, several NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls conducted from Sept. 9-11 had Romney well ahead of Obama among veterans in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. And in Colorado, a poll released Sept. 16 by SurveyUSA and the Denver Post found both veterans and military families supporting Romney over Obama 53 percent to 39 percent in a survey that included third-party candidates.

Back in May, Obama had the lead among Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. But a Reuters/Ipsos poll from September says that’s evaporated, with Romney now up 48 percent to 34 percent.

Powerline discusses the three reasons why Obama is striking out with military veterans.

Why is Obama striking out with vets? The Romney campaign cites three factors: (1) opposition to the looming potential defense cuts under the budget sequester, (2) problems with Obama’s foreign policy positions, and (3) the backdrop of the stagnant economy that’s left the post-Sept. 11 generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with a difficult time finding work when they return home