By JAMES POLLARD (Associated Press/Report for America)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Highway signs welcome drivers entering North Carolina to “the nation’s most military friendly state,” and veterans here know they’re being courted. But in a state where camouflage-colored appeals have become commonplace, recent efforts by progressive groups to cut into what has long been a reliably red constituency face an early test on Super Tuesday.
Among the 16 states and one territory casting ballots in Tuesday’s 2024 presidential primaries and caucuses are some with the nation’s highest rates of active-duty service members and largest populations of veterans: Texas, California, Virginia and North Carolina. But Tar Heel State veterans interviewed in the runup to the primary season’s biggest voting day varied in their politics, even if they agreed that their military service informed their opinions.
Ryan Rogers, who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, says the Biden administration mishandled the August 2021 attacks on Kabul’s airport that killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops. The right-leaning independent voter from eastern North Carolina fears the blasts signaled a weakness that could endanger U.S. troops overseas.
“I don’t care what side you’re on,” he said. “You better be strong.”
But Ric Vandett, a 78-year-old Vietnam veteran from Hickory, won’t vote for President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. The left-leaning independent voter said he cannot forget Trump’s refusal to acknowledge defeat in the 2020 election, which he blames for the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
“We came extremely close to a major constitutional crisis on Jan. 6,” he said. “I’m afraid to see that happen again.”
Recent statements by Trump have fueled Democrats’ sense that there’s an opening among voters with strong military ties, even if that gap hasn’t surfaced during his march toward the GOP nomination.
Ahead of South Carolina’s…
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