On this Memorial Day, a Gallup poll showing why Mitt Romney is leading the president among men.

U.S. veterans, about 13% of the adult population and consisting mostly of older men, support Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president by 58% to 34%, while nonveterans give Obama a four-percentage-point edge.

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These data, from an analysis of Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted April 11-May 24, show that 24% of all adult men are veterans, compared with 2% of adult women.

Obama and Romney are tied overall at 46% apiece among all registered voters in this sample. Men give Romney an eight-point edge, while women opt for Obama over Romney by seven points. It turns out that the male skew for Romney is driven almost entirely by veterans. Romney leads by one point among nonveteran men, contrasted with the 28-point edge Romney receives among male veterans.

Two notes: First, the "gender gap" may very well end up being a wash. That's bad news for Obama. Second, Romney's lead among veterans is age driven; younger vets are more likely to support Obama while older vets support Romney. That's good news for the Mittster: Older voters are more likely to vote than younger ones.

Since only 65% of registered voters will actually vote, it's difficult to say how much of an impact the veteran vote will have on the race. But with Romney's huge margin, it's safe to say that the veterans will be an important part of any winning Romney coalition.