Thanks To Obama, Guns Now Top Issue
By Sam Youngman/The Hill ~ Guns are expected to be a focal point in Wednesday’s debate between Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), which is set for Philadelphia just days after controversial comments by Obama about gun owners.
Campaign news over the weekend was dominated by recently surfaced remarks by Obama that painted small-town gun enthusiasts as “bitter.”
Clinton repeatedly criticized her rival for the remarks, and favorably mentioned hunting outings she took with her late father.
Clinton and Obama now face a balancing act of promoting what Democrats call common-sense gun control regulations, which are important to urban and suburban voters, while still embracing Second Amendment rights critical to winning white, blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania, Montana, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina, according to political analysts.
“They will hold on to the center with both hands,” said Terry Madonna, a Pennsylvania pollster and political analyst.
Walking that tightrope could be particularly tricky during the Philadelphia debate, which takes place one year to the day that a gunman went on a rampage on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., said Obama needs to make inroads with white, blue-collar voters, and his recent remarks could hurt him.
A new poll out from the American Research Group (ARG) released on Monday morning underscored the potential damage. A week ago, the group had Clinton and Obama tied in Pennsylvania, but its new poll showed him down 20 points to Clinton.
Obama made the remarks while speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco earlier this month.
After using the word “bitter” to describe white, blue-collar voters, Obama went on to say that small-town Americans “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
“There isn’t any doubt that given what he said and the fact that he included guns, the issue of gun control is now in the campaign, and it wasn’t before,” Madonna said.
McCain and Clinton seized on the comments to describe Obama as “elitist” and out of touch, and Clinton has specifically pointed to Obama’s comments on guns to paint him as out of the mainstream.
“You don’t cling to guns; you enjoy hunting or collecting or sport shooting,” Clinton said.
How this plays out between Clinton and Obama remains to be seen, but Republicans are clearly thrilled by Obama’s misstatement. One GOP strategist said Monday that “Obama may very well be the most anti-gun, pro-abortion candidate in American history.”
Obama, who initially responded by jokingly referring to Clinton as “Annie Oakley,” sought again Monday to clarify his remarks. He told a Pennsylvania audience that he is from a “state with a large number of hunters and sportsmen, and I understand how important these traditions are to families in Illinois and all across America.”
Obama added that “contrary to what my poor word choices may have implied or my opponents have suggested, I’ve never believed that these traditions or people’s faith has anything to do with how much money they have.”
Given the recent dust-up and the timing of Wednesday’s debate, analysts and advocates said they would be surprised if the issue of gun control doesn’t surface in Philadelphia. The debate will occur one year to the day after Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded many more during a shooting spree on the Blacksburg, Va., campus of Virginia Tech.
“It has got to come up,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I really think they’re going to be talking about gun control in a positive way.”
Helmke said he is not afraid that Obama or Clinton will try to cater to gun owners by softening their stances on gun control. He said both candidates need to talk about the issue in the same voice as former President Bill Clinton, whom Helmke said was able to sell “reasonable” gun restrictions to voters without scaring hunters, sportsmen and other gun owners.
“I think whoever can articulate the ideal that the issue should not be anti-gun versus pro-gun [will win the argument],” Helmke said.
Neither Obama nor Clinton are regarded by anti-gun control groups as anything but an enemy. Officials with the National Rifle Association (NRA) told The Hill last week that while McCain has work to do to win over the group’s members, neither Clinton nor Obama has much of a chance to garner much support within its ranks.
Both candidates have supported a wide array of gun restrictions in the past, and both have received poor grades from the NRA throughout their time in public office.
That said, Democrats have made significant efforts in recent years to reach out to white, blue-collar voters in so-called red states. In 2004, Republicans seized on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) attempt to do so by lampooning the former Democratic nominee for his “photo-op” duck-hunting trip.
Campaign news over the weekend was dominated by recently surfaced remarks by Obama that painted small-town gun enthusiasts as “bitter.”
Clinton repeatedly criticized her rival for the remarks, and favorably mentioned hunting outings she took with her late father.
Clinton and Obama now face a balancing act of promoting what Democrats call common-sense gun control regulations, which are important to urban and suburban voters, while still embracing Second Amendment rights critical to winning white, blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania, Montana, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina, according to political analysts.
“They will hold on to the center with both hands,” said Terry Madonna, a Pennsylvania pollster and political analyst.
Walking that tightrope could be particularly tricky during the Philadelphia debate, which takes place one year to the day that a gunman went on a rampage on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., said Obama needs to make inroads with white, blue-collar voters, and his recent remarks could hurt him.
A new poll out from the American Research Group (ARG) released on Monday morning underscored the potential damage. A week ago, the group had Clinton and Obama tied in Pennsylvania, but its new poll showed him down 20 points to Clinton.
Obama made the remarks while speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco earlier this month.
After using the word “bitter” to describe white, blue-collar voters, Obama went on to say that small-town Americans “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
“There isn’t any doubt that given what he said and the fact that he included guns, the issue of gun control is now in the campaign, and it wasn’t before,” Madonna said.
McCain and Clinton seized on the comments to describe Obama as “elitist” and out of touch, and Clinton has specifically pointed to Obama’s comments on guns to paint him as out of the mainstream.
“You don’t cling to guns; you enjoy hunting or collecting or sport shooting,” Clinton said.
How this plays out between Clinton and Obama remains to be seen, but Republicans are clearly thrilled by Obama’s misstatement. One GOP strategist said Monday that “Obama may very well be the most anti-gun, pro-abortion candidate in American history.”
Obama, who initially responded by jokingly referring to Clinton as “Annie Oakley,” sought again Monday to clarify his remarks. He told a Pennsylvania audience that he is from a “state with a large number of hunters and sportsmen, and I understand how important these traditions are to families in Illinois and all across America.”
Obama added that “contrary to what my poor word choices may have implied or my opponents have suggested, I’ve never believed that these traditions or people’s faith has anything to do with how much money they have.”
Given the recent dust-up and the timing of Wednesday’s debate, analysts and advocates said they would be surprised if the issue of gun control doesn’t surface in Philadelphia. The debate will occur one year to the day after Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded many more during a shooting spree on the Blacksburg, Va., campus of Virginia Tech.
“It has got to come up,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I really think they’re going to be talking about gun control in a positive way.”
Helmke said he is not afraid that Obama or Clinton will try to cater to gun owners by softening their stances on gun control. He said both candidates need to talk about the issue in the same voice as former President Bill Clinton, whom Helmke said was able to sell “reasonable” gun restrictions to voters without scaring hunters, sportsmen and other gun owners.
“I think whoever can articulate the ideal that the issue should not be anti-gun versus pro-gun [will win the argument],” Helmke said.
Neither Obama nor Clinton are regarded by anti-gun control groups as anything but an enemy. Officials with the National Rifle Association (NRA) told The Hill last week that while McCain has work to do to win over the group’s members, neither Clinton nor Obama has much of a chance to garner much support within its ranks.
Both candidates have supported a wide array of gun restrictions in the past, and both have received poor grades from the NRA throughout their time in public office.
That said, Democrats have made significant efforts in recent years to reach out to white, blue-collar voters in so-called red states. In 2004, Republicans seized on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) attempt to do so by lampooning the former Democratic nominee for his “photo-op” duck-hunting trip.
Labels: 2008 Presidential Race, Gun Control, NRA
posted by Mike McCarville @ 2:01 PM
<< Home