McDonnell aims to tap support of veterans

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell, a former Army officer who as Virginia’s attorney general helped ensure overseas military members’ votes counted in the last election, is hoping to reap the rewards of his effort when service members vote again in November.

With 814,000 veterans and 203,508 Department of Defense employees — a total that includes active-duty, reserve and civilian personnel — Virginia’s military community is expected to have a large say in a state that Gov. Tim Kaine won in 2005 with just over 1 million votes.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Mr. McDonnell has many attributes that will appeal to the military voter.

“It is a vote that usually leans Republican by various margins, and, of course, McDonnell having been a veteran himself, and having a daughter fight in Iraq, and being from Virginia Beach, [he] has some good arguments to use in courting them,” he said. “It always depends on their turnout and how close the race is. It is certainly looking to be a much more competitive race than the McDonnell folks had hoped it would be, so he may need every vote.”

As of August, nearly 5 million people were registered to vote in November’s election, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections. While 75 percent of the eligible voters turned out for last year’s presidential election, fewer people generally vote for governor.

In 2005, only 45 percent of the state’s 4.5 million voters cast ballots and four years before that only 46 percent of the state’s 4.1 million registered voters turned out.

The Democratic candidate, R. Creigh Deeds, has not conceded the military vote. Mr. Deeds created a veterans group chaired by Sen. Jim Webb, Virginia Democrat, who served as a combat Marine in Vietnam, to help steer policy and he’s put forward a plan to assist veterans and members of the military across the state.

Terron Sims II, a former Army captain who was co-director of the Virginia Veterans for Obama, said Mr. Deeds has a long track record of advocating for current and former military members and their families through legislation. Even though Mr. Deeds isn’t a veteran, Mr. Sims said, the military community will support him.

“People assume that all veterans support veterans. That is not actually the case. That is like saying all women support women and all black people support black people,” Mr. Sims said.

But Mr. McDonnell, who worked as a medical supply officer and retired a lieutenant colonel from the Army Reserves after a career that spanned 21 years on active duty and in the reserves, is looking for a large military turnout in the hope it will give him a boost.

As attorney general in the last election, Mr. McDonnell pressed to ensure that overseas military members voting absentee could cast their ballots. Many military voters had their votes disqualified because they had not complied with a Virginia statute requiring the printed name and address of a witness; Mr. McDonnell said that federal law pre-empted that state law and the ballots should not be rejected.

Absentee ballots accounted for about a half-million of the votes cast in last year’s presidential election and 222,059 of the votes cast in 2004. In the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial contest, 75,982 people cast absentee ballots.

For Mr. McDonnell, winning the historically Republican-friendly voting bloc isn’t enough. He needs to inspire them to turn out in large numbers - especially since he has seen his double-digit advantage slip away in most polls.

Mr. McDonnell has paid numerous visits to veterans group across the state, eating breakfasts at Veterans of Foreign Wars lodges and giving speeches at American Legion posts. He spoke to the state’s annual VFW convention in June. He and his opponent addressed the American Legion convention in July.

Mr. McDonnell’s daughter Jeanine is a former Army officer and Iraq war veteran who has been campaigning across the state for her father. Once a week, Ms. McDonnell takes part in a veterans phone bank, asking potential voters for support.

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