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McLaughlin: Dems on the Run Over Gun Control
Josey1
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McLaughlin: Dems on the Run Over Gun Control
There's a reason New York Senator Hillary Clinton is suddenly claiming to rural crowds that she used to go duck hunting. (See: Hillary Tells NRA Member: I Used to Be a Duck Hunter)
In the post-9-11 world, the anti-gun crowd is being buffeting by the shifting political winds.
"Gun sales rose sharply in the U.S. following the September terrorist attack. And politicians - even the Democrats - have shied away from criticizing American gun laws," reported "McLaughlin Group" host John McLaughlin on Sunday.
"Many Democrats in Southern and rural states are looking to ... mix socially progressive values with a pro-gun rights stance," he added.
Even before 9-11, the acerbic host noted, a pro-gun control stance was shaping up as a political liability in states like West Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee - all lost by Vice President Al Gore in 2000.
The usually liberal Chicago Tribune columnist James Warren concurred, telling the MG panel:
"A. The Democrats are especially nervous after September 11. It's not a favorable position.
"B. The NRA was underestimated in the 2000 election.
"C. You've got prototypical Democrats like Zell Miller of Georgia who are urging them to, you know, take a position lest they infuriate more white males, who they need to win a presidential election nationally."
On a related note, we were hit with a torrent of e-mail pointing out that Sen. Clinton's duck-hunting weapon of choice would have had to be a shotgun rather than a rifle, as we mistakenly speculated.
Unlike Mrs. Clinton, some of us have never been duck hunters.
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/6/3/114119
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
There's a reason New York Senator Hillary Clinton is suddenly claiming to rural crowds that she used to go duck hunting. (See: Hillary Tells NRA Member: I Used to Be a Duck Hunter)
In the post-9-11 world, the anti-gun crowd is being buffeting by the shifting political winds.
"Gun sales rose sharply in the U.S. following the September terrorist attack. And politicians - even the Democrats - have shied away from criticizing American gun laws," reported "McLaughlin Group" host John McLaughlin on Sunday.
"Many Democrats in Southern and rural states are looking to ... mix socially progressive values with a pro-gun rights stance," he added.
Even before 9-11, the acerbic host noted, a pro-gun control stance was shaping up as a political liability in states like West Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee - all lost by Vice President Al Gore in 2000.
The usually liberal Chicago Tribune columnist James Warren concurred, telling the MG panel:
"A. The Democrats are especially nervous after September 11. It's not a favorable position.
"B. The NRA was underestimated in the 2000 election.
"C. You've got prototypical Democrats like Zell Miller of Georgia who are urging them to, you know, take a position lest they infuriate more white males, who they need to win a presidential election nationally."
On a related note, we were hit with a torrent of e-mail pointing out that Sen. Clinton's duck-hunting weapon of choice would have had to be a shotgun rather than a rifle, as we mistakenly speculated.
Unlike Mrs. Clinton, some of us have never been duck hunters.
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/6/3/114119
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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Full Coverage: 2002 Md. Elections
_____Special Report_____
The Gun Fight
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By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 4, 2002; Page A01
A national anti-gun group is targeting Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. for defeat in the Maryland governor's race, beginning today with a drive-time radio spot that paints Ehrlich as having an "extremist record" on guns.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation's premier gun-control advocate, chose Ehrlich as one of its prime targets of the 2002 campaign, partly because Maryland has enacted strong gun-control laws, a spokesman said, and Ehrlich's election would be "a step backward."
The radio ad is one of the first shots in a campaign likely to draw considerable attention from special interest groups eager to keep Maryland under the control of a liberal governor -- particularly one as nationally prominent as Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the likely Democratic nominee. Their strategy involves picket lines and news conferences that paint Ehrlich as too conservative on such issues as guns and abortion, while Ehrlich portrays himself as a moderate.
"Ehrlich's dismal record on gun violence prevention demonstrates that he is an extremist who places the agenda of special interest groups above the safety of Maryland's residents," said Michael D. Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign and a former Democratic congressman from Maryland's 8th District.
Yesterday, Ehrlich blasted Barnes as "the consummate Washington insider" and "a gun for hire" whose views on gun control are "on the far-left fringe of the Democratic Party." He accused Barnes of conspiring with Townsend to tarnish Ehrlich early with "a very negative set of ads."
"This is a difference of philosophy between two camps," Ehrlich said by telephone. "One camp believes in gun control for the sake of gun control, and that's fair. But why they have to denigrate a competing, legitimate view never ceases to amaze me."
Townsend communications director Michael Morrill said Townsend had nothing to do with the attacks on Ehrlich. He declined to comment on the Brady Campaign ad. Although Townsend has accused Ehrlich of "voting against any kind of gun restrictions," she has not made gun control a central part of her campaign.
"A lot of organizations are positioning themselves right now to . . . shape the campaign agenda," Morrill said. "We will agree with some and disagree with others."
The decision by the Brady Campaign to target Ehrlich virtually ensures that the often-volatile debate over guns will be a prominent feature on the state's airwaves throughout the election season.
Amy Stilwell, communications director for the Brady Campaign, said the group expects to spend up to $250,000 on the Maryland governor's race, which it considers among the most important this year. She said the campaign will be comparable to two of the group's biggest efforts in 2000, when it spent $380,000 against then-Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.) and $267,000 against then-U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.).
The initial Maryland buy is "smallish," Stilwell said: $25,000 to air a 60-second spot during the morning and afternoon rush hours throughout the week on WTOP and WMAL, two Washington area all-news radio stations. But it is attracting attention because it is the first political advertisement of the gubernatorial campaign.
The 60-second spot, a collaboration between the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March, features the voice of Barnes, who tells listeners that Ehrlich "claims to be a moderate. But his extremist record tells a very different story."
Specifically, Barnes complains in the ad about two votes: In 1988, when Ehrlich was a state legislator in Annapolis, Barnes says, he "led the gun lobby's fight against banning Saturday night special handguns." And in 1996, after Ehrlich was elected to Congress, the ad says, he voted to overturn a federal ban on semiautomatic assault-style weapons.
"Please call Mr. Ehrlich," Barnes tells listeners. "Tell him we don't want Uzis, AK-47s and cheap handguns in our neighborhoods."
Ehrlich said he did not "lead the fight" against the ban on cheap handguns, though he did vote against the bill. He confirmed that he voted to repeal the assault-weapons ban, an effort that failed.
"They took out a few semiautomatics and put them on a list and said they're more dangerous than a few other semiautomatics. It was a political statement. And that's fine. I understand that some people do not like guns and think we shouldn't have the right to own them," Ehrlich said.
But, he said: "I want to focus on bad guys with guns. . . . People who are not part of the problem, who do not steal or shoot other people, should have the right to own firearms."
Ehrlich said he has supported proposals to require background checks on gun purchasers, trigger locks on handguns and other safety measures. He also supports Project Exile, a program that seeks to impose mandatory prison terms on criminals who use guns -- and one that is supported by the Brady Campaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54808-2002Jun3.html
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878