Posted on 11/23/2007 3:14:49 PM PST by ansel12
BRISTOL, N.H. (AP) — Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Friday that New York City isn't a model for the rest of the country and that Rudy Giuliani should stop basing his stances on his time as that city's mayor.
Thompson, campaigning at a New Hampshire gun store with stuffed moose and deer overhead, told reporters that Giuliani too often turns to his time as New York mayor to explain his support for stronger gun restrictions.
"He relates everything to New York City. Well, New York City is not emblematic of the rest of the country, I don't think. I think the sentiments of those people in the rest of the country are in support of the Second Amendment — which is where I've always been and I don't think he's ever been," Thompson said.
The former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" actor badly trails Giuliani in New Hampshire polls, in part because Thompson has spent so little time in the state. On Friday, he planned to attend a town hall-style meeting at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall.
Thompson is trying to show differences between himself and Giuliani, who trails former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain in the latest CNN-WMUR-TV poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Giuliani polls at 16 percent, far short of Romney's 33 percent support.
Thompson, who fares relatively well in national polls, posted only 4 percent support.
Gun rights is a key issue among libertarian-leaning primary voters in New Hampshire.
"(Giuliani) simply supported just about every gun control legislation that came down the pike. I just disagree with him on that," Thompson said. "I saw he was at bill signing ceremonies with (New York Sen.) Chuck Schumer and President Clinton and others for gun control legislation over the years. Of course, he's not as outspoken about it any more."
Thompson, however, is.
"I used to have my own skeet shoot," Thompson boasted as he wandered through the gun shop and bought his children gifts. "Some of my opponents, you know, have a bad record or no records. I have a solid record. ... I'm not embarrassed to remind anybody of it."
A Giuliani spokeswoman said Thompson should be careful with his rhetoric.
"Coming from a man who lives in the Beltway, who is a Washington insider and lobbyist and who played the role Rudy Giuliani actually lived on a television series, I am not sure what to make of the senator's comments, except to say results are results," Katie Levinson said.
"Time and again as U.S. attorney, the third-ranking official in the Reagan Justice Department and as mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani delivered, and no amount of political posturing will change that," she said.
Thompson also said the Democrats would do everything they could to end gun rights.
"They were against gun rights for a long time and they paid for it at the polls," he said. "I don't think Americans think taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens makes for a safer America. Just the opposite."
I’m asking this question in all seriousness without sarcasm etc.:
Why do you (and others) attach a “rightness” and “wrongness” to a personal preference for country or city life?
My own view is: This is America, there’s a lot of choice for how people want to live. We should be proud of both.
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So who is your candidate?
42
| Human Events
Comments
Romney’s Four Wedge Issues
by Human Events
Posted: 11/21/2007
HUMAN EVENTS EDITOR Jed Babbin (JB
JB: Governor, even in a lot of blue states, there’s an awful lot of gun rights concerns. Well, number one, you’re invited down here to go bird hunting any time the season’s on, but, in all seriousness: do you view the second amendment as vesting an individual right to keep and bear arms? I know the Supreme Court is about to consider the Parker v. District of Columbia case. Aside from the legalities: as you personally look at the Second Amendment, do you think that’s the right of the state or is that the right of the individual gun owner?
ROMNEY: It’s the right of the individual. I believe that our Constitution vests in the citizens of the United States the right to bear arms, to have weapons for their personal protection, for hunting and for any legal and lawful purpose. I’d like to see our gun laws enforced, to see people who use guns in the committing of crimes in jail for a long time, but I believe that individuals have the right to bear arms, and any incursion on that right, I would find in violation of the constitutionfind in violation of the constitution.
“These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
“In his 1994 US Senate run, Romney backed two gun-control measures strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups: the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on certain assault weapons.
“That’s not going to make me the hero of the NRA,” Romney told the Boston Herald in 1994.
At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
“At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
“And as the GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2002, Romney lauded the state’s strong laws during a debate against Democrat Shannon O’Brien. “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them,” he said. “I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”
I will die for freedom. AIRBORNE! to you.
As do I. There is an emerging contrast: The other frontrunners obviously want it so bad they will say and pretend to be anything. Thompson, on the other hand, hasn't compromised or nuanced a single issue for poll numbers -- which puts the emphasis on his words instead of his "image." The appraoch is not only refreshing, it's kind of shocking to our systems and senses. I think that's because we've heard and seen so much baloney from so many others for so many years now. I think we're starting to see something special in Thompson.
“Why do you (and others) attach a “rightness” and “wrongness” to a personal preference for country or city life”?
Very well said.
I completely agree.
Bingo. A whole lot of the Americans at minimum couldn't care less about NY and some down-right despise it.
Personally I've never been there, and have little to no interest in ever going. If somebody likes it there, fine. But Rooty can no more relate to the people in fly-over country as they can relate to the so called "average New Yorker".
It's a weakness for Giuliani that his media shills try desperately to down-play.
I don’t, you are missing the point. Big cities tend to impose their wishes on society as a whole, they have too much political influence, and want even more.
I can’t argue with that — but the question is whether it’s intentional.
It doesn’t matter, they threaten my liberty.
They’re not threatening your liberty.
So long as Bloomie runs around complaining about my RKBA they are.
I suspect that Bloomie is a stalking horse for local pols in other states. He’s invited in under the table because local authorities don’t want to stir up a hornets’ nest in their own states.
No one is twisting his arm.
I visited Manhattan for the first time in 1977 and it was so bad that I avoided it for 30 years.
Hearing that it had changed, I took a chance and spent 8 days with my teen-aged daughter there in August.
Wow!!
The difference is like night and day. The streets are safe. The subway is filled with normal people and Central Park is filled with families and kids. The graffiti is gone. Times Square is no longer a giant porn shop. My daughter loved it.
If you have not been there in a while, I highly recommend it.
I’ll go when my CCW is honored there.
He’s a pol — it gives him national news coverage. To re-state your argument another way, I don’t see any of the local pols talking about lawsuits against NYC.
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