Mrs. Obama courts the military

JACKSONVILLE -- Michelle Obama dove deep into Eastern North Carolina and the home of Camp Lejeune on Tuesday to persuade a crowd that her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, offered the best options for the military and their families.

Speaking to a crowd that police estimated at 1,500, Michelle Obama said her husband and Republican candidate John McCain offered "two different visions of the lives servicemen and women should return to."

Three-quarters of the crowd responded when she asked past and present members of the military to stand. "We share the vision of a system that does more to support military families, both when loved ones are deployed and after they return," she said.

M. Andy Fiel of Jacksonville, commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, was in the crowd. Fiel, 76, said he was a Republican but will vote for Obama. For most of the past eight years, the country has had a Republican president and Congress, Fiel said, and "look where we are now. We need change."

Fiel said he had more confidence in Obama than in McCain. "They're going to support veterans when they come back," he said. "The VA is underfunded."

Barack Obama is calling for improved Veterans Administration care, better mental health treatment, job protection for military spouses who need time to prepare their families for deployment, and making GI Bill education benefits transferable to spouses or children.

McCain has called for improving veterans' health care and access to health care. He has sponsored bills to give special tax relief to deployed service members and called for expanded retirement benefits for reservists.

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Jim Livingston, a Medal of Honor recipient and McCain supporter, said Tuesday that Obama's statements in Jacksonville were laughable.

"Is Michelle Obama kidding? Do you really think the troops and their families will believe that nonsense? They aren't stupid," he said. "They know John McCain is an American hero who personally understands the sacrifice of military families. Unlike Senator Barack Obama, John McCain is going to preserve the honor of the military and take care of military families."