All the words have been said, all the cards played. I've done what I could with the blog and the podcast, and based on outside observers, they have had an effect — at least forcing b-HO to answer uncomfortable questions about his personal war on guns.
I won't make any predictions...you all know we're betting on a "perfect storm" to salvage the White House. If we in the gun culture turn out big; if the "youth vote" does what it always does and stays home; if...if...if...if...
And if the worst comes to pass, we will rally our forces and fight for the Second Amendment as we have always done.
Roger Simon of Politico made some interesting points on the McCain campaign and the gun issue:
Guns are a potent force in American politics. As I have pointed out before, had Al Gore won Tennessee, Arkansas or West Virginia — all winnable states — in 2000, he would not have had to win Florida, and he would have become president.So VOTE...and join the NRA!
But Gore lost all three states, and guns had a lot to do with it. Gun owners simply didn’t believe Gore when he said he was not going to take their guns away. (They did believe Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 when he said the same thing, but Clinton sold his “Bubba” image effectively and was far more trusted in small-town and rural America.)
This year, gun ownership seemed like a ripe issue for McCain to exploit.
Obama opened up the door in April, when he made his now famous comments at a private fundraiser in San Francisco about how when small town people “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion …as a way to explain their frustrations.”
And, at her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, Palin, widened the issue to one of elitism and trust. (Yeah, yeah, I know she didn’t write the speech. But she delivered it well. Give her some credit.)
“I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening,” Palin said. “We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”
And considering that the McCain/Palin ticket is now battling for its life in small town and rural America, you would think the McCain campaign would be out there talking about guns every day.
My state allows early voting, and I voted already....for Bob Barr. If the GOP hadn't consistently proven over the last several years that it despises small government, liberty-loving conservatives like me, then I might have voted for McCain.
ReplyDeleteYou can thank GW Bush (and his No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, pre-emptive war doctrine, expanded government spending, ballooning deficits, bailouts, warrantless wiretaps, general power hungry arrogance, inflationary monetary policy, etc, etc) for my departure from the GOP after more than two decades of being a loyal Republican.
oldtexan=one bho vote!!!!! bho never answered one "Q" about guns, put it off the record, like everything else, and sic'd his lawyers after those who brought it up. Still got a bad feeling about this. bho SUCKS the mushroom
ReplyDeletePalin may not have written her acceptance speech, but she did deliver it with a "dead" teleprompter. So, we know that it came from her heart. Besides, we have pic's of her shooting a "black rifle". True Love : )
ReplyDeleteLife Member
P. S.: Oldtexan, my brother. I'm sorry that you wasted your vote. I say this with all respect due you. I know how you feel, but I wish that I could have talked to you before you pulled the lever. I wrote before, that we need to take the "right gun" to a gun fight. Then you need to align your sights on the right target. I regret that you were unarmed for this one and you aimed at an adjacent lane. That disqualified you from the match. I appologize if I Pee'd ya off.