Kerry sets sights on gun owners

[Douglas in CT]

Kerry Sharpens Aim on Gun Vote in Red States

By Robert B. Bluey - CNSNews.com Commentary - Aug 12, 2004
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200408\COM20040812c.html

Four years after Al Gore alienated gun owners with his tough talk and
anti-gun record, this year's Democrat presidential nominee has adopted
a new strategy when it comes to firearms. John Kerry is using images to
make his case to gun owners.

Before most voters were paying attention to the candidates seeking the
Democrat nomination last year, Kerry had reporters and photographers
trail him on the plains of central Iowa where they watched him shoot two
pheasants. Ever since that chilly October day, pictures of Kerry in his
blaze orange vest with a shotgun in hand have popped up in newspapers
and in one of his own campaign ads. Immediately after the hunt, Kerry
mailed his supporters the image. Three months later in January, he won
the Iowa caucuses.

Potential voters who see the pictures might be left with the impression
that the Democrat is a hunting pal of Wayne LaPierre. But the National
Rifle Association's executive vice president isn't buying Kerry's use of
gun imagery. While keeping a distance from his 19-year Senate voting
record, Kerry is serving as a "poster boy" in a scheme hatched by Am-
ericans for Gun Safety (AGS), a group that has encouraged Democrats
to tone down their anti-gun rhetoric, LaPierre said.

Recognizing that Gore lost three battleground states in the 2000 race -
Arkansas, his home state of Tennessee and West Virginia, each by six
or fewer percentage points - in part because he was unable to shed the
anti-gun image, AGS and centrist Democrats vowed to reverse course.
Last October, before the first votes were cast, Democrat strategists out-
lined a softer message for candidates to use. Pollster Mark Penn advised
Democrats to support the Second Amendment, while also advocating
"closing some gun law loopholes and enforcing the laws on the books."

Americans for Gun Safety adviser Matt Bennett, a former aide to retired
Gen. Wesley Clark's campaign, said he's not surprised the NRA has
attacked Kerry. Although the NRA hasn't formally endorsed President
Bush, it plans to continue running ads this fall highlighting Kerry's anti-
gun votes.

"The interesting thing about this race is that John Kerry is no Al Gore on
the gun issue," Bennett said. "John Kerry is a gun owner, he's a hunter,
he's a good shot, and he's nobody's pushover on gun rights. It's going
to be much harder for the NRA to pin that gun-grabber label on John
Kerry."

That won't stop the NRA from trying. Spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs said all
it takes is a look at Kerry's record to understand his view of the Second
Amendment. And as far as the Kerry vs. Gore comparison, Hobbs said
this year's Democrat nominee differs greatly.

"He's far worse," Hobbs said of Kerry. "At least Al Gore was up front with
gun owners about his support for strict gun control. John Kerry, despite
voting against gun owners over 50 times in the Senate, is attempting to
conceal his dismal Second Amendment record with a desperate election
year ploy."

The NRA is quick to note that despite frequently missing Senate votes
from last September to March of this year, Kerry made sure he returned
to vote to ban semi-automatic rifles, outlaw gun shows and oppose imm-
unity for the firearms industry from so-called junk lawsuits. Throughout his
career, Kerry has consistently voted 100 percent of the time with the anti-
gun Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence. When he ran for re-election in 2002, the NRA gave him an
"F" grade. But when photos of Kerry and his shotgun show up in newspapers
and television commercials, some gun enthusiasts might not recognize the
camouflaged Kerry.

"Those kinds of events, while clearly symbolic, are important," Bennett said
in defense of Kerry. "They send a signal to gun owners that says, 'Look, I
share your values because I am a gun owner. I'm not going to do anything
that's going to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens to own
guns.' "

The tactic is working, according to the Washington Post, which reported
Monday that 42 percent of gun owners in the so-called red states believe
Kerry would be a less aggressive advocate for gun control. Wins in places
like Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia might be all Kerry needs to
capture the White House.

 

[alan]

addendum to the foregoing

Seized by fits of "civic duty", perhaps by the fact that they were both taking The People's Silver to serve as United States Senators, Both Kerry and Edwards broke off campaigning earlier in the year, to vote in favor of proposed poison pill ammendments to S.1805, that if passed, would have barred idiot law suits against gun makers, distributors and dealers.

The amendments, one to extend the assault weapons ban, the other to close the non-existant gun show loophole, were adopted, which led to the rejection of the underlying bill. Try asking that valiant defender of "gun rights" the Senator from Heinz, I mean Mass. to explain that more than passing strange vote.

Try posing the same question to that Good Old Boy from North Carolina, that self made man, Senator Edwards. See what you get in the way of answers. While President Bush might well leave a lot to be desired, in fact he does, re gun rights, which are a BASIC CIVIL RIGHT, he looks one whole hell of a lot better than do Kerry and Edwards.

Keep that in mind, when you go to the voting booth in November.