Imagine a political advertisement by a woman running for Congress, who appears on camera shooting a variety of firearms, including a Thompson submachine gun.
Imagine another advertisement by a candidate for a statewide office, accusing his opponents of stealing his campaign signs from the yards of his supporters, and taking issue with the number of illegal aliens “bused in by the thousands” when his state’s unemployment level is at an all-time high. The candidate then walks off into the distance leading a horse and carrying a Model 94 Winchester over his shoulder.
National Public Radio did a story on the phenomenon of political candidates courting the gun owner vote this year, and it’s an eye-opener. The risk of doing such advertisements, of course, is that if the candidate is gun-stupid, genuine gun owners and sportsmen are going to spot that in a heartbeat. There does not appear to be anything phony about either of the candidates mentioned above, although it did appear for a moment that the guy had his finger on the trigger of that rifle.
Recall the John Kerry canned goose hunt. Can anybody think what a spectacle it would be to see Patty Murray trudging across a mud flat out on the Columbia Basin or up at Skagit Flats with a shotgun in one hand and a dead honker in the other?
Here in the Evergreen State, a political advertisement showing a politician at a gun range, or sitting in a deer stand at the crack of dawn with a rifle across his or her lap would cause massive unrest among Seattle’s elitist snob Left. They would dismiss the candidate as a bumpkin – and probably throw in a remark about racist rednecks in the process – before strolling down to the corner for a latte to have a laugh at the rubes. (They might not go to a Starbucks, however, because they would be fearful of encountering a peacefully armed citizen. Gasp!)
When Joe Biden was campaigning for the vice presidency in 2008, he reportedly talked about the shotguns he owns. Biden probably wouldn’t sit around my campfire (unless it was for a photo-op) in October because he’d be in the company of people who are not only comfortable with guns, but would undoubtedly be wearing them – loaded – as they ate lunch or dinner, and the issue would not be up for debate.
The campaign season has opened, and it will start heating up right after Labor Day. Candidates for various offices may show up at the Washington Arms Collectors’ October gun show in Puyallup, and that’s a tough crowd to fool when one starts talking about guns and firearm civil rights, hunting and whatnot.
Do not be surprised if the gun owner vote becomes a significant factor in election outcomes. Be even less surprised if a few candidates phony themselves up to appear like “one of the boys” in order to secure a few more votes.
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Comments
unfortunately that will not be an issue in california elections this year as much as we would like it to be in the process of restoring secoind amendment rights. It is politically incorrect to be defensive of your country or your rights in today's world because those that seek to control the public want the public disarmed in case the public finally figures out how badly they have been decieved by both the left and right. We as citizens have lost control of our government and I remember when we laughed at the Russians who were given handpicked party candidates to chose from. No write-ins allowed. Guess what folks? We have the same issue here and instead of a communist party we have Republicans and Democrats dividing up the spoils in Congress. Wake up and vote major party people out of office folks.
I invite any of them to come sit down and meet with us at the Tacoma Dennys Meet and Greet on any 3rd Saturday of the month. We are out there showing our support every day by Open Carrying and concealed carrying our handguns. Legally and responsibly.
Have them check us out on the Open Carry Dot Org Washington. We need there support as well as they need ours. NO BS. Bring it on.
Dave
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