Armed forces overwhelmingly support Obama in donations

President Barack Obama visits with a platoon of U.S. troops at Bagram Air Field, Dec. 3, 2010. Ahead of the foreign policy debate, Open Secrets shows that those with real skin in the game, members of the military and civilian employees of the military, are overwhelmingly supporting President Obama.

Now, though, the military's support has shifted toward Obama. Romney has consistently received little financial backing from military donors.

Despite the fact that Paul once raised almost twice as much as Obama did from the military, the president has received $536,414 from military donors, compared to Paul's $399,274 and Romney's $287,435, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. These numbers are based on donations greater than $200, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. [...]

Contributing $176,121, the Department of Defense is Obama's biggest supporter, with the Army not far behind with $165,646. The Navy sits in third at $86,656. In comparison, Romney's top military contributor is the Army with $87,218, followed by the Department of Defense with $71,043 in contributions.

Military personnel overwhelmingly support Obama over Romney despite the pending cuts to defense. That could be because Obama has kept his promise to bring the wars to an end and because to Mitt Romney, the troops aren't anything more than an item on a laundry list.

When Romney talks about the military, he talks about how much money he wants the government to spend to line the pockets of defense contractors. When Obama talks about the military, he talks about the men and women who have sacrificed so much in the last decade. That's what makes a commander in chief.

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