The changing terrain: Presidential election issues
This blog post is an extension of my August 12 post, which focused on the November presidential election. Two weeks ago I wrote about how sequestration and other issues of high importance to military families will affect their election decisions. Today’s post is about the stark contrast between military and general population families. Participants in First Command’s latest Financial Behaviors Index® survey were asked “How important are these issues to you in choosing who to vote for in this upcoming presidential election?” The following percentages represent the number who feel these issues are extremely or very important.
- Defense spending: Military 84%, Gen Pop 55%
- Sequestration: Military 78%, Gen Pop 48%
- Changes to military retirement and other benefits: Military 78%, Gen Pop 47%
The gaps between military and general population voters illustrate how vastly different these two populations think about these national issues.
First Command will continue to survey these two groups through the election to find out how defense spending and changes to military pay and benefits are affecting the financial lives of middle-class military families, and their civilian counterparts.
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