Military wives come out for Obama

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A group of U.S. military wives is publicly backing the Democratic presidential candidate as members of Blue Star Families for Barack Obama.

Although military families have been a reliable bloc for Republicans, this year more military families are supporting Obama over Republican John McCain, a former Navy officer and Vietnam War hero, the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.

"There's a preconceived notion that if you're in the military, you watch Fox News and are Republican," said Blue Star Families for Obama co- founder Amanda McBreen, who lives in Suffolk, Va., with her husband, a Marine lieutenant colonel, and their children. "I'm an issues person."

Casey Spurr of Virginia Beach, Va., is another member of the group. She is married to a Navy fighter pilot.

Although she said both her husband and father-in-law are "very, very Republican," she was motivated to back Obama after her husband received orders for a mission in Iraq when she was seven months pregnant.

An informal poll conducted by Military Times this month found that 4,290 readers preferred McCain over Obama by almost a 3-1 margin. In the poll, McCain held solid leads in every category except among black service members.