Rudy G's Rough Southern Road Ahead; Gun Control Issue Makes Him A Hard Sell To Conservatives
By Tim Darnell, Editor, Hasting Wyman's Southern Political Report ~ With many SPR poll takers saying that he isn't conservative enough to win the GOP nomination, the firearms industry - whose constituency is populated throughout the South - is saying that Rudy Giuliani is no friend of theirs.
"Recent remarks indicate the mayor is attempting to camouflage his record on guns – a political maneuver now common for politicians seeking national office," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Keane's comments came in a press release issued one day after Giuliani's announcement that he had filed papers with the FEC to create a presidential exploratory committee.
"In June of 2000, then New York City Mayor Giuliani became the lone Republican mayor to sue members of the firearms industry as part of a wave of lawsuits that began in the late 1990's by major metropolitan cities like Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and San Francisco that sought to hold firearms manufactures responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms," the release said. "The Giuliani lawsuit is still pending and being aggressively pursued by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg."
"Giuliani's lawsuit may have gained him praise in Gotham, but will surely handicap him in the rest of the country, particularly during the southern primaries," predicted Keane.
Keane may be right. Few political analysts give Giuliani the chance to carry the South, a region more important than ever to the politically weakened GOP. And while the NRA has suffered some political defeats in states like Florida, it remains the nation's most powerful and potent political lobby, and will definitely have a role in who wins the GOP presidential nomination.
"Recent remarks indicate the mayor is attempting to camouflage his record on guns – a political maneuver now common for politicians seeking national office," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Keane's comments came in a press release issued one day after Giuliani's announcement that he had filed papers with the FEC to create a presidential exploratory committee.
"In June of 2000, then New York City Mayor Giuliani became the lone Republican mayor to sue members of the firearms industry as part of a wave of lawsuits that began in the late 1990's by major metropolitan cities like Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and San Francisco that sought to hold firearms manufactures responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms," the release said. "The Giuliani lawsuit is still pending and being aggressively pursued by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg."
"Giuliani's lawsuit may have gained him praise in Gotham, but will surely handicap him in the rest of the country, particularly during the southern primaries," predicted Keane.
Keane may be right. Few political analysts give Giuliani the chance to carry the South, a region more important than ever to the politically weakened GOP. And while the NRA has suffered some political defeats in states like Florida, it remains the nation's most powerful and potent political lobby, and will definitely have a role in who wins the GOP presidential nomination.
Labels: 2nd Amendment, Gun Control, Gun Rights, NRA, Rudy Giuliani, Southern Political Report
posted by Mike McCarville @ 11:44 AM
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