Obama: The military's money man

As a counter to the John McCain war hero spiel, Barack Obama and his campaign might want to start publicizing this nugget (hat tip to Michael Tomasky) about who's in the lead among contributions from troops currently deployed overseas: Obama, by a 6-to-1 margin.

That lopsided spread is surprising, considering McCain is a decorated war veteran and the traditional appeal of Republican candidates among military types.

Of course, one plausible explanation could be those who sent in contributions might be disproportionately black and brown, and that Obama has committed to withdrawing troops from Iraq within about 16 months. McCain, meanwhile, seems to like to fight and claims to know how to win wars without explaining what a win in Iraq might actually mean.

As Tomasky points out: "if McCain were leading 6-to-1 among this group we'd be hearing a lot about it because it would fit with the established narrative."

I've heard only snippets from Obama's address yesterday to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention but I hope this factoid came up at one point or another. More people should know these things.