Quote: Gee, if he really DID cut military spending that much:
1) the military would hate him - which they do not
Are you so sure about that?
As a military dependent myself, I can definitely say that the mood among military personnel state-side is a little less than gung-ho for their Commander-in-Chief. I can't imagine that it's a great deal better for those who've been deployed for a year. I know some who've returned on leave, and most of them are not too terribly pleased. Pay raises promised by Bush 4 years ago on the campaign trail never materialized or were hidden under ones that Clinton had already approved while he was still in office, the standard of living at bases has fallen dramatically as budgets tightened, and morale has fallen right along with it.
Promises in the campaign to boost morale, increase standard of living, and reduce overstretch have obviously not materialized. While this is largely due to the unexpected War on Terrorism, even beforehand Bush had been making it known that he wasn't going to follow through on any of these promises.
Are you going to see that on the Nightly News? Of course not. Saying anything but kind words for your Commander in Chief is grounds for a court martial, especially in times like these.
Likewise, Clinton was often painted as being anti-military, for his down-sizing, base rationalizations, etc. But the military personnel tended to, generally, like him a great deal. He took the money saved from base closures and downsizing and put it into base improvements and the largest pay raises ever in military history. And actually spent more money on Defense, largely due to Standard of Living increases and more money spent technology investments than we'd spent since WW2 (that helped us win these last engagements), than Bush Sr. did, and he fought a war with his budget.
I know that my standard of living as a dependent improved a GREAT deal while Clinton was in office with huge pay raises and benefit improvements, whereas now my father, who now works as the head of Narcotic and Alien Interdiction for our entire southern border for the DHS can't even get the money necessary to do the job he was tasked to do by the DHS, let alone have money left over to help the morale of his men -- most whom he'd rather not have; but all the good ones are deployed, leaving the scraps left to do the important job of interdicting terrorists trying to infiltrate the US.
You won't see polls of military personnel in a time of war like you would otherwise. And if you did, they're going to be obviously convoluted. But as someone who has lived that life for a very long time, I think many people would be surprised by the sentiment about Bush among many military personnel. I won't say "most" -- because there are many military personnel whom care a great deal more about defending their nation than how much they make or how well taken care of their families are -- this is particularly true amongst the younger, single men. And good for them. But there are indeed a lot of people, especially your career soldiers, whom are not Bush's biggest fans. Not that they won't fight for their country, but they'd like to get paid more for doing it, feel secure in thier jobs, see their families, or at least know that they're well-cared for. Not to say their Kerry fans either -- but I know many of them want something to change.
