Although Bush took Texas by a good margin, my own observations here, and they may be mirrored in other states, are this. At my particular place of employement (about 2,000), I would say that maybe 80% or better are gun owners. About 70% hunt or have hunted. Over 50% where raised on small farms or ranches and some of them still ranch and farm a little on the side.
The vast majority of these folks do not understand the real meaning or intent of the 2nd Amendment. So, when Gore (LIES) and says he doesn't want to take guns from sportmans, it makes them feel secure in the future exercise of their hunting activities. They believe the lie and don't understand that the 2nd isn't about hunting. Many fear that the Republicans will trash the unions and since many are union memebers they tend to vote for whomever the union says will be best for union interests, the country be damned. A great many of those who are not union members and are gun owners, do not vote. They feel that both parties are crooked to the core and your screwed either way. Both of these groups are many times to cheap to become members of the NRA. I have for years, one each year, picked out a co-worker who is not a member of the NRA and secretly paid for a one year membership for them in the hope that when it expired they would renew it. The magazines and mailings are a great and usually unheard of source of information for these people.
So between supossedly voting their pocket books and not voting at all, many votes are lost or misapplied. Within the next 4 years, if Bush wins, he needs to do 3 things to get re-elected.
1. Ensure that gun owners understand that the democrates WANT TO ELIMINATE GUN OWNERSHIP COMPLETELY NO MATTER WHAT THE LIEING BASTARDS SAY and rein in the ATF or disban it.
2. Do what it takes to appeal to union members across the country. Don't give big business any hammers to destroy unions, etc. Support laws that prevent or discourage Corporate America from treating their workers like disposable diapers or endentured servants.
3. Very quitely go after any potential rivials for the next term, such as Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. I believe that if he digs deep enough, he will find wrong doings great enough to put both in prison. It would not hurt to snag Bill Clinton in this also. All done legally and above board, but as quitely as possible. The republicans need to figure out who the most likely contenders will be in 2004 and start gathing dirt to hammer them with.
I also belive that that he should start serious investigations into voter fraud in the areas of; illegal aliens voting, convicted felons voting, etc. A number of these people and those who arranged it should be convicted and jailed a short time before the next election as an example and deterrent. I would like to see all state laws changed so that you must show proof of citizenship to get a voter card and if you don't have the voter card and a state issued picture ID when you show up at the polls, too damn bad, you don't get to vote. Voter registration should be done early enough that the states have time to run the names against criminal record data bases to weed out and PROSECUTE felons that are attempting to illegally vote.
It is my gut feeling that a great many of the votes Gore received were cast illegally and that the democrates promote such illegal activity. It seems to be a democratic family value going back at least as far as LBJ. Thousands of dead people voted for LBJ and people laughed about it.
Bush must also be careful about becoming too moderate or he may lose many of the supporters he has now. Any consession to gun control AT ALL, will cost him votes. It will cost him mine, especially if other republican contenders are to my liking, or if a super strong third party canidate surfaces.
Sorry it was so long, but thats my 2 cents.
