Col. Ben Fuata, who has done Army tours in both Iraq wars, has the same pocketbook concerns about the nation's economy as many of his neighbors on the Big Island.

He has to shop at the grocery store and buy gas like anyone else. But when it comes to choosing between U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona for president, his military experience may influence his thinking.

"I can't say, 'Well, it doesn't.' I'd be lying to you. I think having been 'boots-on-the-ground,' you have a different perspective, a nonpolitical perspective," said Fuata, who serves with the Hawai'i Army National Guard in Hilo.

Obama's hometown roots — he was born here and graduated from Punahou School — and the state's Democratic tradition make him the favorite to take the state's four electoral votes in November. But the state's large military community may serve as a counterweight for McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war whose father led U.S. Pacific Command in the late 1960s and early 1970s. McCain met his second wife, Cindy, at a military reception in the Islands and the couple honeymooned here after their wedding.

The military, along with tourism, is the backbone of the state's economy and military leaders hold influence in business and social circles.

There are about 40,000 active-duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers in the Islands, along with 55,000 military family members and 120,000 military veterans. The military also employs about 17,000 civilian workers.

NOT ALL FOR MCCAIN

Several active-duty personnel and military veterans interviewed by The Advertiser said Obama's lack of military background was a factor but not a primary consideration in their vote. Obama could offset his inexperience, many said, if he demonstrates that he values the advice of military commanders. While most said they are leaning toward McCain, some believe the concentration on Iraq has been detrimental to the United States and see McCain as compromised because of his faith in a misguided war.

Jordan Ohearn, an information systems technician for the Navy who spent a year in Iraq on a special project with an Army unit, said his time in Baghdad convinced him "there was absolutely no point in going over there. I really took it to heart."

The invasion was a mistake, he said, and U.S. troops were left to police sectarian and ethnic violence. He said he read Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," while deployed and was impressed.

"I like Barack. I like the fact that, at least to me and my friends, we feel he's sort of like the untainted person. He's actually somebody that we can believe and trust in."

BUSH ADMINISTRATION

President Bush's above-average performance in Hawai'i during his re-election in 2004 may have been related to his support in the military community. Bush lost to U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 54 percent to 45 percent overall in the Islands. But the margin was tighter — 51 percent to 48 percent — on O'ahu, where there is a higher concentration of soldiers, veterans and their families.

Several military and civilian voters said at the time it was difficult to vote against Bush, the commander in chief, with the nation at war.

Polls taken for The Advertiser over the past several years, however, have shown that many Hawai'i voters did not want the United States to invade Iraq alone or with only a few allies, think Bush misled the nation about the rationale for war, and believe the war did not make the country safer.

But many Hawai'i voters have also wanted the United States to remain in Iraq until there is a stable government, and, anecdotally, many today seem as divided as the rest of the nation about an exit strategy.

DIFFERENCES ON WAR

McCain has called the Bush administration's initial military approach to Iraq badly conceived. But he supported a surge of U.S. forces last year that many analysts believe has helped stabilize the country. The Pentagon credits the increase of 30,000 U.S. troops with a reduction of violence against civilian and U.S. military targets.

McCain has said the United States should remain in Iraq until the country is self-governing and secure. He opposes a timetable for withdrawal.

Obama has said his goal as president would be to end the war with a phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops within 16 months, leaving a smaller force for counterterrorism and to protect diplomats. He has said he would consult with military commanders about whether the timetable is possible given the conditions on the ground.

Obama opposed the surge last year but has acknowledged that the increase in troops, along with other factors, such as Sunni tribes working with the United States against al-Qaida terrorists and a cease-fire by Muqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia, have contributed to a decrease in violence.

Fuata said he believes Obama's focus on a timetable — an issue he used effectively in his primary victories over U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York — has matured as he receives more information from military commanders and diplomats.

"I feel we have a moral obligation to basically assist in helping to rebuild that country," Fuata said. "And probably not so much on the democratic side, but more on the economic side."

WITHDRAWAL TIMETABLE

Many connected with the military, even those who disagree with how the war was conducted, are opposed to a timetable for withdrawal. Older veterans are reminded of the Korean War, where the United States and its allies settled into an occupation that helped promote stability in South Korea, and the Vietnam War, where public opposition led to a withdrawal and the eventual fall of South Vietnam to communists.

"I couldn't support somebody who thinks that we should just pull the rug out from under the troops and leave," Mark Moses, director of the state Office of Veterans Services and a former Marine, said of Iraq. "And pulling the rug out from under the troops doesn't mean not supporting those that are there, but it means abandoning the mission, if you understand that.

"We're there. We're trying to do something, and then if we're not going to finish it, that's the problem, if you don't finish the job."

Moses, a former state lawmaker who was defeated for re-election in 2006, said he does not know whether McCain's support in the military community will help him do well in Hawai'i. "I'm not only a veteran, I was in politics," he said. "But my crystal ball is a little fuzzy."

Robert E. Talmadge, a retired Marine and president of the Chosen Few Aloha chapter, said many in the military community are also concerned about Obama's pledge to review major weapons programs and cut what the senator termed as "wasteful" defense spending.

"In my way of thinking, we are the greatest country in the world because we have the greatest military force in the world," he said. "If we let go of that, the other countries are not going to let up. They're going to keep going forward and developing all the new equipment that they can. We're going to fall behind, and if a war comes along, then we have to play catch-up."

IMPACT ON FAMILIES

Walter Enriquez Jr., a corporate human resources director from Wai'anae who has two cousins who have served in Iraq, said he wished both candidates would stop playing politics with the war and "start really considering how it's impacting our families.

"I think they need to put more emphasis on how we treat our troops upon their return home, taking care of their health," said Enriquez, who supports Obama. "I think our troops are spread thin already. I think so much focus has been put on Iraq that they forgot about all of the other wars that we're battling. They put all of the focus on Iraq and they forgot about Afghanistan."

While the war may be an important factor with those in the military community, civilians, issues such as the economy, the dependence on foreign oil and immigration are also influencing their political decisions.

Darrell Large, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and chairman of veterans for McCain in Hawai'i, described it as the most interesting presidential campaign of his lifetime. He said both McCain and Obama are intelligent and persuasive. He said Obama is a "great communicator."

"He speaks, for want of a better phrase, of motherhood and apple pie, but when you start tying down how these things are going to be accomplished, I haven't really seen a lot of substance," Large said. "And that's just my personal opinion."

Some active-duty military interviewed asked that their names not be used because of the military's restrictions on political activity. People in the military can express personal opinions on political candidates and issues but not as official representatives of the armed forces.

One Air Force captain stationed at Hickam Air Force Base said the slowing economy, and whether military pay and benefits would keep up with the cost of living, would have more of an influence on his vote than the war.

"I've got a family and so obviously I want to make sure that whoever the candidate is has my whole family as an interest. That would be like your paycheck and other benefits, whether it be for housing, or for clothing, or food or things like that," said the captain, who is married and has two children. "Every little bit, every little increase helps."

He said Iraq is on everyone's mind, since everyone knows someone who has been involved, "but we also need to take care of ourselves back home as well for those that are not necessarily deployed."