Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
Saw this story on Slate - it's the diary of a senior Democratic campaign weasel getting his clock cleaned by the NRA in Pennsylvania - full of anti-gun bigotry and nasty things to say about gun owners but a fun read because of its conclusion...
http://slate.msn.com/diary/00-11-06/diary.asp
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Tony Bullock is Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's chief of staff. He has been volunteering with the Gore campaign in Pennsylvania.
Posted: Monday, Nov. 6, 2000, at 10:30 a.m. PT
Stubborn coal barges still fight their way up the Monongahela River. These floating remnants of an earlier century seem hopelessly out of place in the new, Internet-savvy of Pittsburgh's downtown revitalization. Like a laid-off steelworker showing up for an interview at FreeMarkets—Pittsburgh's dot-com-auction-powerhouse-success-story—it is hard to see a bright future for old technology and old skills in the Pittsburgh of tomorrow. Even the venerable, 30-year-old Three Rivers Stadium has given way to two new stadiums—one for the Pirates, the other for the Steelers. Their steel construction lends a sleek, new look to the skyline with hundreds of skyboxes and limitless opportunity for corporate showcasing. In an act of new-age architectural cannibalism, FreeMarkets will soon hold an online auction to sell off the old stadium in bits and pieces—lights, scoreboards, chairs, even the marquee could be yours.
When I volunteered to work on the Gore-Lieberman campaign, I wanted to go somewhere where I might really make a difference. Sensing that the Gore camp was in trouble, I sought permission from my boss, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (and more importantly from my wife and my 2-year-old son, Monty), to blow three weeks of accumulated vacation time and volunteer for service in a battleground state. Laura Quinn at the DNC said that the Gore campaign was desperate for a reasonably skilled press person for Western Pennsylvania, and I was off.
Pennsylvania is often described by political consultants as Philadelphia at one end, Pittsburgh at the other end, and Mississippi in the middle. My frequent trips in and out of the city confirm the general accuracy of this depiction. I have racked up a few thousand miles on the rental car handling press for visits by Hadassah Lieberman, Joe Lieberman, Secretaries Donna Shalala (Health) and Richard Riley (Education), Mayor Ed Rendell, and others. Hadassah made pizza in a bakery in Erie and decorated pumpkins with former football legend Franco Harris in kindergarten class in the borough of Green Tree. The genteel Richard Riley spoke to a small but appreciative crowd at the Hirt Auditorium in Erie just six days before the election outlining the stark and very real differences between Bush and Gore on education—vouchers, school construction, tax deductibility for college tuition, etc.
Heading up to Erie is a straight shot north of Pittsburgh, a little over two hours. I've made the trip three times so far and will head up again for Joe Lieberman's last campaign event on the Monday night before the election. Erie is the childhood home of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. Though it's pretty much a Democratic outpost in a largely Republican part of the state, Ridge wins easily here as the hometown Wunderkind. The only one more popular here than Tom Ridge is NRA spokesmodel Charlton Heston. He came up late last month to put a face to the name of what seems like $20 million worth of anti-Gore advertising by the gun nuts.
Judging from the ratio of shotgun racks per vehicle (nearing two out of five just a few miles south of I-90), I think it is safe to say that Moses is playing to the home crowd here in Erie. I'm not entirely sure why so many gun-rack-equipped motor vehicles in the Erie area also display Confederate flag stickers. My recollection is that Pennsylvania was on the other side of that war. Perhaps the NRA just distributes them with their membership kits as a redneck bonding device. In any event, Mr. "Pry It Loose From My Cold Dead Hands" really packed the house at the Rainbow Garden on Erie Halloween night. Pandering to veterans, Heston crowed, "They won our freedom with bullets so that we can defend our freedom with ballots … we are fighting for individual freedom." NRA grand poohbah Wayne LaPierre piles on with, "Gore doesn't support the Second Amendment." He urges the crowd to "pull the lever for freedom!"
Posters and billboards all over the state scream, "Vote for Freedom—Elect George W. Bush." Only in microscopic type does the billboard confess its patron, the NRA. Radio spots with ominous music detail an insidious plot by blue-blood elitists and the Al Gore Justice Department to strip the Constitution of the Second Amendment or, in the alternative, to stack the Supreme Court with lefty handgun control advocates who would interpret the Constitution in a way that might not allow howitzers and AK-47's to be sold at Kmart.
The big problem for Gore right now is that the NRA—working in perfect concert with the Republican Party—has convinced all hunters and gun-sports advocates that Al Gore is really out to take their guns away, make them register and license shotguns and rifles (which is not now required), and impose all manner of restrictions on the use and sale of handguns. In the absence of any orchestrated effort on the part of the Democrats to counteract this propaganda, LaPierre and Heston have inflicted serious injury to the Democrats in Pennsylvania and in other key battleground states. The GOP has penetrated the Democratic base. The labor vote—which is overwhelmingly Democratic here—is ready to vote for Bush because they have been convinced that Gore is out to strip them of their God-given right to own as many firearms as they care to. Recent efforts by union leaders to re-educate their membership on this question has come way too late to do any good.
Among union members, traditional labor issues such as minimum wage, permanent striker replacement, and Social Security will take a big-time backseat to the "gun issue." The same union labor guys who are building the stadiums on the river during the week like nothing more than to drink beer and hunt on the weekend. The NRA has succeeded in a massive brainwashing. It's one big reason the Democrats are still struggling to lock down Pennsylvania. It may also be the reason why they lose the election.[/quote]
http://slate.msn.com/diary/00-11-06/diary.asp
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Tony Bullock is Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's chief of staff. He has been volunteering with the Gore campaign in Pennsylvania.
Posted: Monday, Nov. 6, 2000, at 10:30 a.m. PT
Stubborn coal barges still fight their way up the Monongahela River. These floating remnants of an earlier century seem hopelessly out of place in the new, Internet-savvy of Pittsburgh's downtown revitalization. Like a laid-off steelworker showing up for an interview at FreeMarkets—Pittsburgh's dot-com-auction-powerhouse-success-story—it is hard to see a bright future for old technology and old skills in the Pittsburgh of tomorrow. Even the venerable, 30-year-old Three Rivers Stadium has given way to two new stadiums—one for the Pirates, the other for the Steelers. Their steel construction lends a sleek, new look to the skyline with hundreds of skyboxes and limitless opportunity for corporate showcasing. In an act of new-age architectural cannibalism, FreeMarkets will soon hold an online auction to sell off the old stadium in bits and pieces—lights, scoreboards, chairs, even the marquee could be yours.
When I volunteered to work on the Gore-Lieberman campaign, I wanted to go somewhere where I might really make a difference. Sensing that the Gore camp was in trouble, I sought permission from my boss, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (and more importantly from my wife and my 2-year-old son, Monty), to blow three weeks of accumulated vacation time and volunteer for service in a battleground state. Laura Quinn at the DNC said that the Gore campaign was desperate for a reasonably skilled press person for Western Pennsylvania, and I was off.
Pennsylvania is often described by political consultants as Philadelphia at one end, Pittsburgh at the other end, and Mississippi in the middle. My frequent trips in and out of the city confirm the general accuracy of this depiction. I have racked up a few thousand miles on the rental car handling press for visits by Hadassah Lieberman, Joe Lieberman, Secretaries Donna Shalala (Health) and Richard Riley (Education), Mayor Ed Rendell, and others. Hadassah made pizza in a bakery in Erie and decorated pumpkins with former football legend Franco Harris in kindergarten class in the borough of Green Tree. The genteel Richard Riley spoke to a small but appreciative crowd at the Hirt Auditorium in Erie just six days before the election outlining the stark and very real differences between Bush and Gore on education—vouchers, school construction, tax deductibility for college tuition, etc.
Heading up to Erie is a straight shot north of Pittsburgh, a little over two hours. I've made the trip three times so far and will head up again for Joe Lieberman's last campaign event on the Monday night before the election. Erie is the childhood home of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. Though it's pretty much a Democratic outpost in a largely Republican part of the state, Ridge wins easily here as the hometown Wunderkind. The only one more popular here than Tom Ridge is NRA spokesmodel Charlton Heston. He came up late last month to put a face to the name of what seems like $20 million worth of anti-Gore advertising by the gun nuts.
Judging from the ratio of shotgun racks per vehicle (nearing two out of five just a few miles south of I-90), I think it is safe to say that Moses is playing to the home crowd here in Erie. I'm not entirely sure why so many gun-rack-equipped motor vehicles in the Erie area also display Confederate flag stickers. My recollection is that Pennsylvania was on the other side of that war. Perhaps the NRA just distributes them with their membership kits as a redneck bonding device. In any event, Mr. "Pry It Loose From My Cold Dead Hands" really packed the house at the Rainbow Garden on Erie Halloween night. Pandering to veterans, Heston crowed, "They won our freedom with bullets so that we can defend our freedom with ballots … we are fighting for individual freedom." NRA grand poohbah Wayne LaPierre piles on with, "Gore doesn't support the Second Amendment." He urges the crowd to "pull the lever for freedom!"
Posters and billboards all over the state scream, "Vote for Freedom—Elect George W. Bush." Only in microscopic type does the billboard confess its patron, the NRA. Radio spots with ominous music detail an insidious plot by blue-blood elitists and the Al Gore Justice Department to strip the Constitution of the Second Amendment or, in the alternative, to stack the Supreme Court with lefty handgun control advocates who would interpret the Constitution in a way that might not allow howitzers and AK-47's to be sold at Kmart.
The big problem for Gore right now is that the NRA—working in perfect concert with the Republican Party—has convinced all hunters and gun-sports advocates that Al Gore is really out to take their guns away, make them register and license shotguns and rifles (which is not now required), and impose all manner of restrictions on the use and sale of handguns. In the absence of any orchestrated effort on the part of the Democrats to counteract this propaganda, LaPierre and Heston have inflicted serious injury to the Democrats in Pennsylvania and in other key battleground states. The GOP has penetrated the Democratic base. The labor vote—which is overwhelmingly Democratic here—is ready to vote for Bush because they have been convinced that Gore is out to strip them of their God-given right to own as many firearms as they care to. Recent efforts by union leaders to re-educate their membership on this question has come way too late to do any good.
Among union members, traditional labor issues such as minimum wage, permanent striker replacement, and Social Security will take a big-time backseat to the "gun issue." The same union labor guys who are building the stadiums on the river during the week like nothing more than to drink beer and hunt on the weekend. The NRA has succeeded in a massive brainwashing. It's one big reason the Democrats are still struggling to lock down Pennsylvania. It may also be the reason why they lose the election.[/quote]
