For Sgt. Matthew Villalpando, Tuesday wasn’t so Super in Baghdad. The California native has to be at the International Zone’s Checkpoint Two by 6 a.m. every day for work, so when the results of the primaries started rolling in late Tuesday night, he was sound asleep in bed with his alarm set for 4 a.m. He didn’t even have time to check on what had happened before heading out the door Wednesday morning.
Like Villalpando, most troops were too busy–or tired–to stay up to watch Super Tuesday’s results as they unfolded back home. Few had the time to vote themselves, saying that, given their busy schedules, it was not a priority. Soldiers abroad vote by absentee ballot, which they can request over the Internet from their home states. Voting Assistance Officers at the U.S. Embassy can also help, but some still say the process should be made simpler.
Yet even for those who did not vote in their states’ primaries, there is a strong feeling that the next American president could have a direct impact on their lives. Sgt. Villalpando is leaning toward supporting Sen. Barack Obama. “He displays confidence, good character and the backbone to bring this war in Iraq to an end,” he says. “It’s time to cut our losses.”
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