Presidential campaigns vie for vets’ vote

Presidential campaigns vie for vets’ vote
By Matthew Brown - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Aug 31, 2008 17:21:45 EDT

BILLINGS, Mont. — Retired paratrooper Vernon Kinn liked what he heard when Sen. Barack Obama came to Montana recently with a promise to build more health centers for veterans. That could end the 500-mile, roundtrip drive Kinn faces each time he needs a new hearing aid from Montana’s only VA hospital.

But Kinn, who served two years in Vietnam, was unsure he could turn his back on Republican Sen. John McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.

“It’s going to take a lot of thought. After the war, nobody liked us. They spit on us. Now we’ve got to stick together,” said Kinn, 62.

As the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns vie for support from the nation’s 25 million veterans, Kinn illustrates the mixed feelings among some in a crucial voting bloc.

Analysts say McCain carries the credentials many veterans look for: two decades of service in the Navy and heroism. While a POW, McCain was tortured repeatedly but refused to give in to his captors’ demands.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_veterans_vote_083108/%2e