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Kentucky Hosts NRA Convention This Weekend, McCain to Speak

The NRA is holding its annual meeting in Louisville, KY this weekend. John McCain will be speaking. He has tended to campaign against Obama rather than Hillary. There are Democrats who belong to the NRA. The NRA backs Democrats who support their issue. If McCain attacks Obama on gun rights, will he cost him any primary votes?

Here's who the NRA backed in 2006:

The NRA has returned the favor. In this year's election, the group is backing Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren, Tennessee Rep. John Tanner and West Virginia Rep. Alan Mollohan, among others. In gubernatorial races, the NRA has endorsed Democrats in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming, and Bill Richardson, the former Clinton energy secretary and cabinet member, in New Mexico.

"The NRA is not an affiliate of the Republican party," said Grover Norquist, a conservative activist who also is an NRA board member. "They endorse incumbent Democrats who have voted with them on their issue. They understand that the first time they oppose a Democrat who has been supportive of the gun issue, they lose that D vote."

More...

The NRA has an active get out the vote effort. Hillary sent out these mailers in Indiana attacking Obama on gun rights. I wonder if they went out in Kentucky as well.

In April, the NRA wrote: "Obama’s alleged support of the Second Amendment is utterly cynical and false." To be sure, the NRA doesn't buy that Hillary is now a pro-gun rights candidate. But, with everyone convinced Obama has the nomination, I think he will be the one that the NRA and McCain attack the most in Louisville this weekend.

Bill Clinton was in Louisville yesterday as part of a three day swing through the state. Obama spent one day (Monday) in Kentucky. Hillary will be there tomorrow.

Clinton's visit to Louisville marked the start of a three-day swing through Kentucky. He had appearances last night in Bardstown and Elizabethtown and will make five stops today in Western Kentucky.

< Kentucky By the Numbers | Medical MJ Sellers Face 20 Year Minimums >
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  • Display: Sort:
    Hee! (none / 0) (#1)
    by madamab on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:11:49 PM EST
    Obama has done himself no favors on this issue, considering his BitterCling comments.

    Still, I'm not sure anyone who thinks the NRA is just dandy, was ever planning to vote for Obama. ;-)

    Wonder If McCain Will Show Up With His (none / 0) (#2)
    by PssttCmere08 on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:23:21 PM EST
    musket... :)

    Parent
    Will Hillary bring her left-handed Mauser 66? (none / 0) (#7)
    by Ben Masel on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:35:18 PM EST
    You Will Have To Ask Hillary....Didn't See (none / 0) (#10)
    by PssttCmere08 on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:10:57 PM EST
    anything about her attending the function.

    Parent
    As long as someone (none / 0) (#27)
    by jondee on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:38:28 PM EST
    brings a Manlicher Carcano (so to speak).

    Parent
    he's making (none / 0) (#15)
    by Salo on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:57:11 PM EST
    more mistakes now. He was gabbing about his great uncle who killed lots of  Germans and obama has the war trophies to prove it...

    Obama's a seriously weak candidate. He's asscociating with afamily member but his personal contacts are somehow verboten.

    Parent

    "has the war trophies to prove it..." (none / 0) (#17)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:59:26 PM EST
    from what I know about "war trophies" that sounds a bit frightening.

    Parent
    Heh (none / 0) (#19)
    by Steve M on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:03:48 PM EST
    My grandfather captured Goering (really!) and had all sorts of trophies as a result, like a gold-plated gun and a typewriter that had been given to him by Hitler as a gift.

    I honestly don't know what you can do with this sort of stuff.  I mean, it's not like I could put it on my desk as a conversation piece.

    Parent

    heh (1.00 / 0) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri May 16, 2008 at 03:45:12 PM EST
    Why did Hitler give your Grandfather a gift??

    ;-)

    And why do you think anything your Grandfather did, or Obama's great uncle have anything to do with "now?"

    Parent

    as long as we are not talking (none / 0) (#21)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:08:04 PM EST
    about teeth or ears or something

    Parent
    My dad captured (none / 0) (#26)
    by samanthasmom on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:25:31 PM EST
    a huge Nazi flag from a concentration camp .  When he died, we donated it to one of the holocaust museums.

    Parent
    I have a relative who (none / 0) (#28)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri May 16, 2008 at 03:22:21 PM EST
    has some really disgusting mementos of the VietNam war that would seem illegal or should be illegal.
    we wont go into it since I already said he was a relative.

    Parent
    Ya gotta love (none / 0) (#22)
    by jondee on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:16:56 PM EST
    how they align themselves with those who would just as soon "leave the invisible hand(job) alone" to turn all their fields and streams into one big Walmart Super Store parking lot.

    Parent
    Wisconsin 2004 (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ben Masel on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:24:26 PM EST
    Both Clinton and Obama will have problems here, given their support of the "Assault Weapons" ban. Obama's constitutional framing is better than Hillary's Elmer Fudd, but records count more than late-season campaign rhetoric.

    In 2004, nearly all the ballots split between Feingold for Senate and Bush for Prez in Wisconsin were in the Northwoods and rural western part of the State, suggesting that Russ' votes against PATRIOT and the AWB counted for more than Kerry's shotgun photo-ops.

    Please forward this message to Clinton (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by oculus on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:27:26 PM EST
    campaign headquarters.  I am soooo hoping she resists the temptation of the photo-op in hunting gear w/gun.  So far, so good.

    Parent
    The only photo-op that works (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ben Masel on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:30:35 PM EST
    Show that you can break down, clean, and re-assemble your firearm.

    Parent
    agreed, they will go after whoever (none / 0) (#4)
    by bjorn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 12:26:52 PM EST
    the Dem candidate is and will try to help McCain.

    Parent
    They are in the primary (none / 0) (#8)
    by JavaCityPal on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:04:27 PM EST
    so, they'll both do fine. One will just do better than the other.

    Parent
    Guns are not a problem (none / 0) (#9)
    by Prabhata on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:08:15 PM EST
    Lack of education is.  Democrats need to stop the anti-gun mentality.

    x (none / 0) (#11)
    by CognitiveDissonance on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:15:51 PM EST
    I think one of the problems is thinking about guns in terms of big city crime, and forgetting about small towns and people who hunt. The whole country is not big cities, but some democrats seem to treat things that way, as if one size fit all.

    Parent
    Amendment 2.1? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ben Masel on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:29:39 PM EST
    The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, except in big cities.

    Parent
    Do you object to (none / 0) (#13)
    by oculus on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:33:06 PM EST
    restrictions on sale and possession of assault weapons--in the city or outside the city?

    Parent
    assault weapons? (none / 0) (#23)
    by kredwyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:17:02 PM EST
    Machine guns are already restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (recently revised).

    The AWB didn't ban machine guns.

    Parent

    You forgot (none / 0) (#14)
    by cmugirl on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:48:48 PM EST
    the first part of the clause

    Parent
    I once felt the same as you (none / 0) (#16)
    by Makarov on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:57:38 PM EST
    seem to.  I own a number of firearms, including a semiautomatic .30 cal rifle and several handguns.

    A few years after moving into the Philadelphia region from rural Pennsylvania, I started to look more closely at gun crimes, particularly homicides.  I've come to believe that a significant number of murders could be prevented by banning handguns.

    That said, I don't think local, or even statewide, bans would be very effective.  The ban would have to be nationwide, and it would probably take a good 5-10 years before we realized a measurable impact.

    While a handgun ban would not have saved the life of a Philadelphia police officer recently killed in the line of duty, the number of gun homicides committed with rifles and shotguns in my area is something less than 15%.  One simply cannot easily conceal larger weapons, and I think a handgun ban (given time for illegal weapons to be removed from circulation) would lead to many fewer deaths and injuries as a result of crimes not planned in advance.  Surely, armed robberies involving firearms would still occur, but I suspect crimes like the shooting death of a pizza delivery driver for $20 would be much more rare.

    As a hunter in my younger years, I can say that the only good reason to use a handgun in that practice is if you have the use of only one arm.  Even then, partially disabled hunters with prosthetics and other aids like bi-pods can use rifles and shotguns very effectively from blinds and seated or prone positions.

    As a handgun owner, I can think of no substantive reason to not ban them nationwide.  The weapon of choice for home defense is a shotgun.  Hunting is best done with longer barrels.  I believe the benefit to human life outweighs the enjoyment factor of target shooting.

    I also support requiring state and local law enforcement officers check their service weapons in and out when they go off and on duty, and the same for some federal officers.

    Parent

    Self-defense for Pizza drivers? (none / 0) (#20)
    by Ben Masel on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:04:57 PM EST
    they can have the nomination (none / 0) (#18)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:02:37 PM EST
    when they pry it from our cold dead hands.

    How much does Winchester (none / 0) (#24)
    by jondee on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:20:41 PM EST
    Smith and Wesson etc contribute to the NRA? Anybody know?

    Parent
    no idea (none / 0) (#25)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:24:08 PM EST
    but I bet they do

    Parent
    Now progressives are pro NRA? (none / 0) (#30)
    by dem08 on Sat May 17, 2008 at 12:52:30 PM EST
    I understand the desire to use every stick to hit Obama, but The Assault Weapons Ban, like the "Cop [and by the way other people] Killer Bullet" ban are good things.

    Some commenters here say Obama is a Republican and some say he doesn't favor Republican ideas enough.

    I am surprised on a site that features Jeralyn Merritt's great and important and (I assume) proudest life work, there is such great love of the NRA.