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Gunning for the Center
George W. Bush is trying to modify and moderate his perceived positions on guns.
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By Jake Tapper
May 17, 2000
On May 3, Texas Gov. George W. Bush alleged that Vice President Al Gore was once a member of the National Rifle Association.
The Gore camp said it could find no evidence that Bush's claim was true, and NRA spokesman Bill Powers said that he, too, could find no record of Gore's membership in the organization's microfiche, but the next day Bush repeated the charge.
Pressed by reporters as to how he could make such a claim, Bush said, "He might have been a member, let's put it that way."
When asked who told him about Gore's "membership," Bush said, "a little birdie."
Gore may, in fact, have been a member of the NRA at one point. (One staffer allows that due to the NRA's "aggressive recruiting," the organization might have automatically signed him up when he was a generally pro-gun Tennessee congressman.) But it certainly seems odd that Bush -- whose election as Texas governor was greeted with a banner headline in the NRA magazine that "Gun Owners Win Big" -- would bring it up.
"I think the TSRA [Texas State Rifle Association] believes that Gov. Bush has taken a pretty fair and balanced stance on the gun issue," says Ralph Talbot of San Antonio, the president of the 37,000-member TSRA. "Bush has done a pretty good job in dealing with the political pressures brought to bear by the anti-gun folks in Texas. Gov. Bush doesn't want to antagonize the pro-gunners."
But Texas, of course, is not the entirety of America. Pro-gun positions that may be politically popular in Texas may be detrimental to a candidate running for president. Thus, says Joe Sudbay, legislative director for Handgun Control Inc., we see Bush grappling, somewhat disconcertingly, to run to the political middle on the issue and tar Gore as a former NRA member, evidence be damned.
"It's pretty clear that the governor is trying to run from his pro-gun record," Sudbay said. "They must understand now that the American people overwhelmingly don't share that view."
The Bush press department calls Gore a liar every chance it gets, even sending out a weekly "Gore Report" on the vice president's "adventures with the truth." Gore and his folks do, indeed, have a number of misadventures when it comes to truth telling.
But the Bushies, led by the governor himself, are modest about their ability to prevaricate. That "little birdie" whispering various untruths about guns into Bush's ear has been an awfully busy little creature as of late.
Indeed, it should hardly be worth going into the many ways in which Bush lands squarely on the side of the National Rifle Association on the issue of gun laws.
Whether you agree with him or not, that's where he is, that's where he's been and no doubt that's where he will continue to be. Voters will have a clear choice between Gore, a candidate who supports gun laws written by Sarah Brady, and Bush, who stands with NRA president Charlton Heston.
In fact, as has been widely reported, NRA first vice president Kayne Robinson told an audience of NRA members earlier this year, "If we win, we'll have a president ... where we work out of their office."
If you believe in the world according to Robinson -- that there are already more than enough gun laws; that the Clinton administration needs to enforce the laws already on the books; that this is all just a slippery slope leading to the government banning guns outright -- then Bush is your man.
If you think that society will become safer if there are more people carrying concealed handguns, then Bush is the clear choice.
"He's been open-minded, he's been willing to talk to the NRA and the TSRA representatives in Austin over firearms issues since he's been governor," says Talbot. "He has not been against our issues," says Talbot. "He was very supportive of the concealed carry law" that passed in 1995.
Intriguingly, Talbot is sensitive to anyone portraying Bush as a friend of the NRA and TSRA. "I don't want to paint Gov. Bush as being in the NRA's pocket or TSRA's pocket -- that's not true at all. He's not. I think he's a fair man. He's not an extremist." Asked if he can name a time when Bush disagreed or worked against the NRA or TSRA, Talbot says, "I can't think of any in recent time."
But, he reiterates, "I don't want to paint Gov. Bush into a corner that doesn't give him any way out."
Talbot isn't the only one so sensitive to this issue. The person most reluctant to link Bush directly to the NRA agenda is Bush himself, trying instead to paint himself as a moderate on gun control.
On Friday, right before the Million Mom March in favor of more gun laws, Bush came out in favor of giving away thousands of trigger locks for anyone who wants one, an apparatus he has pooh-pooohed in the past. He also did and said absolutely nothing last year when two pieces of state legislation -- both requiring that guns be sold with trigger locks -- were introduced.
"That's a huge change for him," says Sudbay. "It seems to be a very crass political move timed in conjunction with the Million Mom March and also to diminish his very pro-gun record."
"I think he saw himself being pushed out on one of the wings when he got embroiled with [Sen. John] McCain and he saw that his best way to regain support was to shift back to the center," says TSRA's Talbot.
Why would Bush try to gloss over his previous strong support for the NRA's agenda?
Obviously for votes.
One of the few polls taken in the last few months that had Gore leading was conducted by ABC News immediately after Robinson's comments, showing Gore with an edge, 46 percent to 38 percent.
Clearly, Bush is worried, otherwise he wouldn't have had his handlers rush to book him on NBC's "Today" show to announce his new free-trigger-lock entitlement program for gun owners.
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© 2000 Salon.com All rights reserved.
Gunning for the Center
George W. Bush is trying to modify and moderate his perceived positions on guns.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Jake Tapper
May 17, 2000
On May 3, Texas Gov. George W. Bush alleged that Vice President Al Gore was once a member of the National Rifle Association.
The Gore camp said it could find no evidence that Bush's claim was true, and NRA spokesman Bill Powers said that he, too, could find no record of Gore's membership in the organization's microfiche, but the next day Bush repeated the charge.
Pressed by reporters as to how he could make such a claim, Bush said, "He might have been a member, let's put it that way."
When asked who told him about Gore's "membership," Bush said, "a little birdie."
Gore may, in fact, have been a member of the NRA at one point. (One staffer allows that due to the NRA's "aggressive recruiting," the organization might have automatically signed him up when he was a generally pro-gun Tennessee congressman.) But it certainly seems odd that Bush -- whose election as Texas governor was greeted with a banner headline in the NRA magazine that "Gun Owners Win Big" -- would bring it up.
"I think the TSRA [Texas State Rifle Association] believes that Gov. Bush has taken a pretty fair and balanced stance on the gun issue," says Ralph Talbot of San Antonio, the president of the 37,000-member TSRA. "Bush has done a pretty good job in dealing with the political pressures brought to bear by the anti-gun folks in Texas. Gov. Bush doesn't want to antagonize the pro-gunners."
But Texas, of course, is not the entirety of America. Pro-gun positions that may be politically popular in Texas may be detrimental to a candidate running for president. Thus, says Joe Sudbay, legislative director for Handgun Control Inc., we see Bush grappling, somewhat disconcertingly, to run to the political middle on the issue and tar Gore as a former NRA member, evidence be damned.
"It's pretty clear that the governor is trying to run from his pro-gun record," Sudbay said. "They must understand now that the American people overwhelmingly don't share that view."
The Bush press department calls Gore a liar every chance it gets, even sending out a weekly "Gore Report" on the vice president's "adventures with the truth." Gore and his folks do, indeed, have a number of misadventures when it comes to truth telling.
But the Bushies, led by the governor himself, are modest about their ability to prevaricate. That "little birdie" whispering various untruths about guns into Bush's ear has been an awfully busy little creature as of late.
Indeed, it should hardly be worth going into the many ways in which Bush lands squarely on the side of the National Rifle Association on the issue of gun laws.
Whether you agree with him or not, that's where he is, that's where he's been and no doubt that's where he will continue to be. Voters will have a clear choice between Gore, a candidate who supports gun laws written by Sarah Brady, and Bush, who stands with NRA president Charlton Heston.
In fact, as has been widely reported, NRA first vice president Kayne Robinson told an audience of NRA members earlier this year, "If we win, we'll have a president ... where we work out of their office."
If you believe in the world according to Robinson -- that there are already more than enough gun laws; that the Clinton administration needs to enforce the laws already on the books; that this is all just a slippery slope leading to the government banning guns outright -- then Bush is your man.
If you think that society will become safer if there are more people carrying concealed handguns, then Bush is the clear choice.
"He's been open-minded, he's been willing to talk to the NRA and the TSRA representatives in Austin over firearms issues since he's been governor," says Talbot. "He has not been against our issues," says Talbot. "He was very supportive of the concealed carry law" that passed in 1995.
Intriguingly, Talbot is sensitive to anyone portraying Bush as a friend of the NRA and TSRA. "I don't want to paint Gov. Bush as being in the NRA's pocket or TSRA's pocket -- that's not true at all. He's not. I think he's a fair man. He's not an extremist." Asked if he can name a time when Bush disagreed or worked against the NRA or TSRA, Talbot says, "I can't think of any in recent time."
But, he reiterates, "I don't want to paint Gov. Bush into a corner that doesn't give him any way out."
Talbot isn't the only one so sensitive to this issue. The person most reluctant to link Bush directly to the NRA agenda is Bush himself, trying instead to paint himself as a moderate on gun control.
On Friday, right before the Million Mom March in favor of more gun laws, Bush came out in favor of giving away thousands of trigger locks for anyone who wants one, an apparatus he has pooh-pooohed in the past. He also did and said absolutely nothing last year when two pieces of state legislation -- both requiring that guns be sold with trigger locks -- were introduced.
"That's a huge change for him," says Sudbay. "It seems to be a very crass political move timed in conjunction with the Million Mom March and also to diminish his very pro-gun record."
"I think he saw himself being pushed out on one of the wings when he got embroiled with [Sen. John] McCain and he saw that his best way to regain support was to shift back to the center," says TSRA's Talbot.
Why would Bush try to gloss over his previous strong support for the NRA's agenda?
Obviously for votes.
One of the few polls taken in the last few months that had Gore leading was conducted by ABC News immediately after Robinson's comments, showing Gore with an edge, 46 percent to 38 percent.
Clearly, Bush is worried, otherwise he wouldn't have had his handlers rush to book him on NBC's "Today" show to announce his new free-trigger-lock entitlement program for gun owners.
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© 2000 Salon.com All rights reserved.
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