Activists: Veterans Vote is a 'Jump Ball'

Prominent military veterans agreed on Sunday that the veteran’s vote is up for grabs this November, a year in which veterans could be pivotal for a win.

“Veterans are a political jump ball, and they're demographically pretty mixed,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, on CNN’s State of the Union.

“They're very independent-minded, and nobody's got this locked up, especially this year where neither candidate is a military veteran themselves,” he added.

American Legion Legislative Director Tim Tetz agreed, saying that veterans take no hard party line, and that President Obama would have to prove the specific ways he’s helped veterans if he wants to win.

“If the president can go out there and say, this is what I did for you as a president, and this is how I had your back when you were out there, then he is going to do fairly well. If he can't demonstrate that and how it affected them personally, he's got a tough road to hoe,” Tetz said.

Obama has been making a concerted effort to court veterans, whom he lost it to John McCain in 2008.