Posted on 10/07/2010 1:56:14 PM PDT by neverdem
Not a lot of things have gone the Democrats' way this year, but dozens of their House candidates are getting a late boost from an unusual source: the National Rifle Association.
So far this year, the NRA has endorsed 58 incumbent House Democrats, including more than a dozen in seats that both parties view as critical to winning a majority.
The endorsements aren't the result of a sudden love for a party with which the NRA is often at odds. Rather, the powerful group adheres to what it calls "an incumbent-friendly" policy, which holds that if two candidates are equally supportive of gun rights, the incumbent gets the nod.
The policy has been in place for some time, and the...
--snip--
Although the NRA's agenda usually aligns with the GOP, having clout with Democrats has also been useful. In early 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. suggested the Obama administration might try to reinstitute a ban on the sale of assault weapons. Backed by the NRA, several dozen House Democrats sent Holder a letter opposing such a move, and the idea never resurfaced.
"If it hadn't been for those 60 House Democrats . . . things would have turned out very differently," Arulanandam said.
But some Republicans in Washington privately grumble that the NRA is taking a short-sighted approach toward a crucial election.
"I think most [Republicans] would agree that [the NRA has] made friends with a lot of Democrats who will be former members of Congress next year, and most would agree they've been ill-advised," said a national GOP strategist who requested anonymity for fear of retribution for criticizing the influential group.
The strategist also questioned whether the gun issue would be decisive in a year dominated by debates over the economy, jobs and health care...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Cross the NRA, and they have a good memory, e.g. Harry Reid didn't get their endorsement. Remember also that GWB said he would have signed a renewed "ban on the sale of assault weapons."
Senators to Secretary Clinton: Backdoor Gun Ban Violates Americans' Constitutional Right
Look at the list of senators at the end of that link. All the supposedly pro Second Amendment rat senators who didn't sign that letter can now be asked, "why is your signature missing," e.g. Michael Bennett and Mark Udall of Colorado, Mark Pryor of Arkansaw, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and James Webb of Virginia.
sure they are “pro-gun” and they will support every leftist anti-group getting govt funds, they will back every registration and judge who are anti-gun.
The NRA has lost any respect I had for it.
“sure they are “pro-gun” and they will support every leftist anti-group getting govt funds, they will back every registration and judge who are anti-gun.
The NRA has lost any respect I had for it.”
I think the NRA has forgotten that, while a few Dems are pro second amendment, as a party, they are anti-second amendment. I’m not sure where the GOP stands, and I don’t think the GOP is either, so, while it’s short sighted on the part of the NRA, they may be hedging their bets. It’ll come back to haunt them, soon.
When a Presidential election ends up in the House, the NRA endorsement of rats will look pretty lame.
The NRA is single issue. The voters (and gun owners) aren’t.
I seriously doubt these endorsements will make all gun-owners into zombie-like, single issue voters. Give us gun owners a little more credit.
The NRA are single issue with blinders on. The so called pro-gun Democrats will support all anti-gun judges along with the rest of their radical party. It’s the big picture that the NRA doesn’t see.
After 48 years with the NRA, I’ve had it.
How so? Will the GOP will become the party of gun grabbers after they take Congress?
This year at least, the NRA appears to be co-opted by the Dems and the Left. If a Republican and a Dem have an equally good stand on the 2nd amendment, why support the incumbent Dem. This year, it’s the incumbent Dems that are vulnerable. So a blanket support for incumbents is support for Nancy Pelosi’s control of a Democrat House. For all practical purposes, incumbent Republican House members are not vulnerable.
I hope that there is a lot of shouting at NRA leadership meetings. There are some good people at the NRA and they better stand up to Democrat control of the House.
If we can’t get the House this year we can watch the march of liberal fascism, we won’t be able to investigate this corrupt administration, and we can see our Constitution shredded even further. Then, we can thank the NRA for that.
Call the NRA and complain. All of your rights are at stake.
Oh, yeah! Like I’m going to vote for Scott Murphy! These are the same folks that brought us Kirsten Gillibrand, the Cheerleader. The NRA lost its moral compass a long time ago!
The NRA is useless. The Democrats they endorse will assault the Second Amendment as soon as they are elected, IF they are elected.
>>It’s the big picture that the NRA doesn’t see.<<
Of course they see the big picture. And the “big picture” is that if the NRA hadn’t firmly established their reputation for supporting Dem incumbents PROVIDED they voted to support gun rights, then the Congress that we currently have in office would have voted overwhelmingly to restrict our gun rights. They didn’t though, and the NRA is absolutely the main reason that didn’t happen.
Meanwhile, notice how that NRA endorsement is causing some of the Dems receiving the endorsement to squirm a bit as they try to explain it to their liberal base? The NRA endorsement in those races could actually serve to suppress liberal voter turnout. Put another way, if you’re mad at the NRA for endorsing a Democrat, how do you think a liberal constituent feels about their pet Democrat getting that endorsement? Imagine a liberal voter getting an NRA mailing supporting the incumbent Democrat because he supports the NRA when the chips are down. Two-edged sword?
Relax, the NRA knows exactly what they’re doing. And it’s working spectacularly well. We’d have gone the route of Britain, Canada and Australia long ago without them.
>>The NRA is useless. The Democrats they endorse will assault the Second Amendment as soon as they are elected, IF they are elected.<<
They already HAVE been elected. The NRA supports incumbent Democrats IF they support the 2nd amendment as evidenced by their voting record. So, in fact, you’re wrong. They did NOT assault the 2nd amendment; they supported it, which is why you still have the right to own a gun two years into Obama’s reign. The NRA isn’t stupid; they’re very good at what they do best, i.e., ensure our gun rights. Hardly useless.
Absolutely nothing has changed in the way the NRA endorses candidates. Besides, as I pointed out above, this year the NRA endorsement of a Democrat is a two-edged sword. It helps with the hunting crowd, but is likely to even further depress the liberal base that the typical Democrat relies upon to get elected.
If you’re a liberal Democrat you’re already irritated with Obama for continuing the wars, etc., and now the NRA is endorsing your candidate? Might as well stay home this year instead of voting for another gun lover. They gotta be getting depressed, really depressed. Two years of total control by your party and you couldn’t get the guns away? Depressing.
This is one of the biggest problems I have with SINGLE ISSUE organizations: Many of them are BLIND to the big picture.
In the case of the NRA, what the hell good will it do to keep our guns if THAT’S the last freedom tyrants like Harry Reid and his pals come to take. After another 50 years of government school indoctrination, a majority of the adults then will have been so thoroughly brainwashed that they’ll turn them in voluntarily, killing any chance to restore America, the IDEA.
And the saddest thing about that is that they won’t even comprehend what they’ve just pissed away.
“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over to your side,’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community’.”
Adolph Hitler Speech November 1933
“Absolutely nothing has changed in the way the NRA endorses candidates.”
I understand your point as an NRA endorsement having a depressing effect on the liberal base. However, if the Democrat incumbent actually believed that, they would eschew the NRA endorsement or even go soft on the second amendment. For the last 20 years ago, Democrats have won elections by pretending that they are moderate or even conservative. This was played to perfection last year. People actually thought 0bama would govern as a moderate, instead, he has ruled as a fascistic Leftist. My point is that moderates and even some right of center type will be adversely influenced by the NRA endorsement of an incumbent Dem.
Just because the NRA has habitually endorsed pro-gun incumbents over like minded challengers doesn’t make it good policy this year. Hopefully, the NRA will not be successful in propelling incumbent Dems to victory over pro-gun Republican challengers. Do you at least agree with that?
bump
I wouldn’t say the NRA is useless. If it were we wouldn’t be talking about how pissed off we are at them for such a myopic policy.
As I’ve said before on prior recent threads, if they back incumbent democrats - if both candidates are ‘equal’ (hard to believe) - and this allows the dems to stay in power in the House and Senate, THAT IS NOT AN EQUAL CHOICE!!!! Choosing the dem gives us a democrat run House and Senate, choosing the republicam gives us a Republican run House and Senate. HARDLY AN EQUAL CHOICE.
That is why I believe the logic of the NRA and the NRA-niacs here is not logical at all. It is illogical. In the big picture of things they are hardly equal choices. The fact NRA hasn’t figured this out IS THE PROBLEM WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO POINT OUT in discussions such as this.
Rewarding democrats who voted for 2A stuff in the past doesn’t trump getting republican control over the House and Senate back. Most people here feel this way.
The NRA is playing a smarter chess game then you might appreciate, IMHO. Gillibrand had an 'A.' Now it's 'F.'
Thank the NRA for the Death of 'Disclose'
NRA Ratings & Endorsements includes state legislators & governors
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