The most comprehensive look at the military vote is an annual survey by the privately owned Military Times newspaper, which in a voluntary poll of 4,300 subscribers in September found overwhelming support for McCain, 68%, compared with 23% for Obama.
But Feaver noted that the Military Times surveys tend to target older officers, who are far more conservative than younger enlisted personnel.
It is a factor that seemed clear Wednesday in east Baghdad, where six of seven soldiers at a base interviewed at random said they backed Obama.
1st Lt. James Talbott, an Alaskan who expressed concern about McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, chose Obama, as did Sgt. Samuel Smith, who saw Obama as the candidate who could best change America's course.
The seventh, Staff Sgt. Tracie Ward, wouldn't say whom she had favored, but she smiled brightly as the TV in the dining hall showed returns coming in late in the U.S. as troops here were sitting down to breakfast.
Aaron Belkin, a University of California political science professor who studies military attitudes, said the willingness of U.S. troops in Baghdad to speak openly Wednesday about their preferences for Obama was in itself a shift.
"There is a long-standing norm among the troops that if you're a liberal or a Democrat, you need to stay in the closet about that," Belkin said. "The fact that you're seeing service members openly discussing their support for Obama represents a significant change in military culture."
Though young enlistees appear to have similar voting patterns to their college-bound peers, Feaver said, the military as a whole still tends to lean toward the Republican Party.
To McCain supporters, the Vietnam veteran's familiarity with the military was an important factor in their vote.
"John McCain has a much better idea of what the current situation is, and what the consequences are if we leave too soon," said Army Maj. Olaf Shibusawa, a reservist who was in Iraq this year but has returned to the United States. He said that even though he knew an Obama victory probably would mean fewer deployments and less time away from home, he couldn't shake the sense that McCain's character is stronger.
Army Capt. Steven McGregor, currently serving in Iraq, was also swayed by McCain's wartime experience in comparison with Obama's platform.
"Obama," he said, "is obsessed with an exit strategy and a timeline."
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tina.susman@latimes.com
peter.spiegel@latimes.com
