"California"?
And just how often do California politicians give the NRA anything of worth? And I'm not talking about "we removed one provision from a draconian anti-gun bill we ended up voting for".
And let's face it -- California is pretty much a lost cause for the NRA and pro-life folks. If they've lost hope, who could blame them?
I consider California one of the 6 most heavily anti-gun states in the US, right there with Illinois, New Jersey, Hawaii, Maryland, and Massachusetts. There's a reason it got that way.
Here, we took away Granholm's coattails completely here. We had a "weak" unknown candidate (Posthumus) who was supposed to lose to the ultracharasmatic Granholm by 15%, largely because of John Engler who had a rough 3rd term(but overall he was a good governor). Posthumus was pro-gun(more than Engler and Bush) and pro-life. and Posthumus outperformed Bush and took the race to within 4% with little federal help. If we had one more week, we would have done it. Granholm went from being bigtime anti in 2000/2001 to "taking" pro-gun in 2002, and even picking a pro-gun Lt governor to try and shore up her union base. Posthumus still overperformed among union members and took the "Reagan Democrats" vote, largely with his farming and outdoors background.
My county, heavily pro-gun, pro-life, and Republican, had a 57% turnout(5% higher than expected). While that's not good enough for my tastes, it did effect the rest of the ticket. We scored an upset win in the AG race for the first time in 48 years, and took the Secretary of State seat for the 3rd straight time. Gun owners were a major factor in both of those seats.
The GOP kept the state senate and gained in the house. We took two new congressional seats. Gun owners were a factor in both of those races.
Now, I don't know what will happen with Bush. McCellan's comments hurt him some. If he doesn't sign it, it probably won't hurt him much. If it's tied into another bill, it depends what we gain. If it's the same bill as the old ban or worse, then he'll probably lose Michigan, since the 'middle' here outside Oakland or Ingham County is pro-gun and pro-union.
Now, tell me how I knew that without even checking your profile page!
Seriously, tell me why on Earth I should take any advice from a freakin' Kalifornia Pubbie? We see how rousingly successful you guys have been in defeating the least popular governor in US history. Sheesh...I think American Airlines has more credibility right now that you and your state party.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!