A Smerconish.com poll question last week asked “Should women serve in combat roles?” 85% said yes.
When I ask that question I get a similar result.
But it is the wrong question.
Anyone in a military family knows that the real question is what does it looks like when you have a draft and have no choice. Volunteer military force? Who really cares? It is up to the individual. Female combat units have been shown to be just as effective as male combat units.
I always ask the follow-up question “Are you ok with your 18 year old daughter being drafted and put in a combat role against her will and sent to the front lines?”
Universally my urban non-military friends say “Oh no-no-no – it has to be her choice.”
I’m sorry – that isn’t how the military works. I’m pretty sure recruitment would go way up if you could simply choose whether or not you could be put in harm’s way over your 4 year tour of duty.
When pressed, 100% of people so far have said no to their daughter being drafted into a combat role involuntarily.
I suspect the Smerconish Poll would flip if he had asked the Yonkman poll question.
This is a great example of something that drives the urban-rural divide. When we hear the press, pundits, and politicians going on and on about how a majority of Americans, even up to 85%, think women should be able to serve in combat roles, they all look like idiots. Clearly with no understanding of how the military works. And these are the people in charge?
Rural voters are all thinking DRAFT - and when a war is going on.