In key contests, Democrats championing gun rights

[-..__...]

Oh noes!!!

Dems supporting the RKBA and receiving the backing of the wicked NRA!

This is not good... not good at all. :sarcasm:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Democratic candidates in key states are embracing gun owners’ rights, winning favor from the National Rifle Association, a lobby that has long been the target of disdain from the party faithful.

In New Hampshire, Representative Paul Hodes, a Democratic Senate candidate, has an “A minus’’ NRA rating, potentially insulating him from progun rights attacks in a state that’s big on hunting and personal liberties.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, in a bruising campaign for reelection in Nevada, has conservative activists buzzing because the NRA is considering endorsing his reelection.

Indiana’s Democratic Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth, who has an “A’’ rating from the NRA, may get the group’s endorsement this fall over GOP candidate Dan Coats, whom the NRA criticized in mailings to Hoosiers as being weak on gun rights.

And in Kentucky, Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway has not only heralded gun rights but also signed friend-of-the court briefs supporting gun owners before two landmark Supreme Court rulings backing their rights in District of Columbia and Chicago cases.

“I think there’s been a change in the country as a whole,’’ said Jon Delano, an independent political analyst associated with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Unless you’re from an urban area, where gun violence is so intense that there’s a feeling you need to control these weapons, the vast majority across the country do not support gun control.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/07/14/in_key_contests_democrats_championing_gun_rights/?page=1">Complete article

[doc03]

1. The NRA gave Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland their endorsement

over John Kasich. Kasich voted for the Clinton AW ban.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[benEzra]

3. Decent article, but a little more research would have been nice...

Peter Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said he is very frustrated with the behavior of many Democrats for either toeing the NRA line or remaining silent. “Part of it goes back to this myth that the Democrats lost Congress in ’94 because of guns,’’ said Helmke, a former GOP mayor and onetime Republican nominee for the Senate in Indiana. “It was maybe a few races. If it was an issue, how did Bill Clinton get reelected in ’96?’’ Helmke said of the president who signed the assault weapons ban.

Helmke, the repub who heads the Brady Campaign (whose name is Paul Helmke, not "Peter Helmke", BTW) fails to mention that Dole carpet-bombed gun owners in the 1996 campaign, endorsed the Clinton gun ban, and said some pretty darn vicious things about owners of modern-looking guns. The NRA's slogan that year was "Elect a Clinton-Proof Congress", which is what happened. De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt, but it looks like Helmke sailed that one right over the reporter's head.

[Recursion]

4. "an urban area, where gun violence is so intense"

He clearly meant to say,

"An urban area, where gun violence, like in the rest of the country, is at a 50-year low"

[safeinOhio]

5. I'm glad to see the NRA

is getting more diverse. Still there are groups like the American Gun Owners Association that are as extreme as the Brady Campaign is in the other direction. They push for only extreme right wing candidates regardless if a Democratic candidate, like Harry Reid, support gun liberties.

[The Green Manalishi]

6. True that.

Let's just take over the NRA and go from there :-)

The beauty of a single issue organization; the most pro RKBA gets the endorsement- making right wingers' heads explode is a Good Thing.

There's always been more than one Obama sticker on a vehicle at the range I go to.
:headbang:

[chibajoe]

9. The NRA hasn't changed, Democrats have

They have always endorsed anybody who was pro-2nd regardless of their political affiliation. The only reason the organization is considered conservative is because progressives have not been very supportive of the NRA's agenda.

[Statistical]

7. Who would have thunk it.

Endorsement from the NRA is solely up to the candidate. Pretty simple concept. Pro-RKBA = endorsement and financial support, neutral =lack of support, anti-RBKA = support to opponent.

The DNC for example is never going to support a Republican candidate. The RNC is never going to support a Democratic candidate. The NRA has no such affiliation. It supports candidate that support RKBA.

Some people (on this very forum) say the NRA "lost" because Democrats gained seats in 2006/2008. The NRA could give a flying crap if the seat is red or blue. What matters is the % of elected officials that support RKBA. If Democrats gain seats but in order to do so they moderate on gun control and even gain a few RKBA supporters in the ranks that is a "win" for the NRA.

[formercia]

8. It's about time Democrats wised-up and threw out that Red Herring.

The boys have been using that to bash Liberals for generations.

[jeepnstein]

10. About two years ago...

I had a very heated meeting with some folks from the Ohio Democrat Party over that issue. We were looking at fund-raising and doing a bit of "opposition research" looking for solid ground going into a primary. They were non-plussed when I suggested dropping that particular wedge issue as a way of picking up some votes that we were otherwise throwing away. One of the Governors friends was sitting there with a huge grin because he knew that while I might be correct it was going to be "kill the messenger day". They didn't believe me on another very important issue with regard to the fund raising of a couple of candidates in a primary and wound up backing the wrong horse, too.