Good news from Long Island

Some good news from Long Island. Latest polling shows Lee Zeldin has a big lead over challenger Anna Throne-Holst:

“Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) holds a 15-pecentage-point lead over Democratic challenger and former Southhampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst in the 1st Congressional District race, according to a Newsday/Siena College poll. Fifty-three percent of those interviewed said they planned to vote for Zeldin, while 38 percent backed Throne-Holst …”

Zeldin isn’t backing down in the face of Throne-Holst’s antigun attacks either:

“… Zeldin repeatedly accused Throne-Holst of lying during the debate, including on his record on gun control … Zeldin said Throne-Holst’s TV campaign ads showing armed guards during a school lockdown drill banging on doors as children hide inside classes exaggerated what actually happens. Throne-Holst responded that kids were terrified of lockdown drills, and blamed Congress and Zeldin for not passing stronger gun control laws …”

This is how Republicans should react when their opponent starts with the PSH, call bullshit on it.

More good news, the NRCC is giving up on Jack Martins:

“The National Republican Campaign Committee is pulling out of the race to replace Democratic Rep. Steve Israel in the third congressional district, multiple sources confirmed on Friday. Republicans had been hopeful the seat was a winnable one in an otherwise challenging electoral environment in New York …”

Cue Nelson Muntz.

“… OB Murray, a spokesman and adviser to Republican candidate Jack Martins said he remains confident he will win next month …”

The NRCC obviously doesn’t. The latest poll shows Martins losing 50-34 to Tom Suozzi.

While Suozzi is horrible and has been getting worse over the years, Martins doing a crash and burn is richly deserved. From touting his voting in favor of the SAFE Act to shamelessly disenfranchising voters Martins has built-up a lot of bad karma and it is time for it to come back at him.

Definition of “common sense”

As a follow-up to this post a couple weeks ago, we now know what Adam Haber’s definition of “common sense” gun control is:

“… The gun control plan revives a long-sought and at-times dormant issue raised by Senate Democrats: the microstamping of bullets, a bill that has been opposed by Senate Republicans over the years and was not included in the otherwise all-inclusive SAFE Act. At the same time, Haber is backing a bill known as Nicholas’s Law that would requite the storage of a firearm in a locked safe. And Haber wants to block those on the federal no-fly list from receiving a license for a firearm …”

Did Haber think these things up himself or did he get help from someone?

“… As State Senator, I will always choose the safety of our children and communities over pandering to extremists like the NRA and corporate gun lobby …”

“Corporate gun lobby” is a phrase Leah Gunn Barrett like to use so I’ll guess her or another rep. from NYAGV wrote up his agenda and press statement.

Not what I wanted to hear

The Poughkeepsie Journal interviewed candidates John Faso and Zephyr Teachout who are running for the open CD-19 seat.

On the topic of guns:

“… On gun control, Teachout favors eliminating purchases at gun shows without a background check and ensuring guns are denied to individuals on the No-Fly List. Faso said gun-show transactions typically are “informal sales” between people “known to each other.” “The vast majority of gun crime is not committed with long guns,” he said. “The vast majority is committed with handguns. And there should be strict controls and regulations on handguns.” …”

The latest independent poll showed both candidates effectively tied, although I am inclined to believe an earlier biased poll showing Teachout leading by a few points.

FN advertisement

I saw an advertisement for FN last night on El Rey Network.

First time for that. The only other televised gun company ads I have seen before were from Henry on FoxNews. It is a sign we’re making advances in the gun culture war.

Effective ad

CD-19 Candidate Zephyr Teachout has released this ad:

I like this a lot, not for her politics (which are to the left of Bernie Sanders), but the attitude. When attacked, Teachout simply laughs off her opponent’s charges.

Republicans could learn a lot from this.

Going all-in

Anna Throne-Holst is going all-in for gun control. Her campaign held a “forum on gun violence” over the weekend:

I don’t think her tactic is very effective. I doubt Lee Zeldin does either as he has been ignoring her for the past few months on the issue. If it was a fundraiser or voter registration drive Throne-Holst might have accomplished something, but this forum looks like it was an opportunity for people who weren’t going to vote for Zeldin in the first place to vent their displeasure at him for not supporting their agenda.

Murphy’s Fund to End Gun Violence

According to RollCall, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy’s gun control project is backing Anna Throne-Holst:

“… Murphy’s Fund to End Gun Violence will also be backing … Anna Throne-Holst, the former Southampton town supervisor challenging GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin in New York’s 1st District on Long Island. “I’m proud to support … Anna Throne-Holst because they’ve made ending gun violence cornerstones of their campaigns. By electing more people like them, Congress can finally listen to the will of the people, not the gun lobby,” Murphy said …”

What exactly is this Fund?

“… Murphy and Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., have established the “Fund to End Gun Violence,” an effort to “bundle” contributions to U.S. House and Senate candidates who would support gun control bills …”

I can’t find any committee or website with the name so I’m going with the Fund being more antigun astroturf.

Endorsement backfires

Last week Colleen Deacon received the endorsement of ARS.

This week her political standing dropped:

“… Cook Political Report moved its rating Thursday to “leans Republican.” While the publication said Colleen Deacon, the Democratic challenger in the race, is an “appealing nominee,” they view [John] Katko, R-Camillus, as the front-runner in the contest … Cook is the first major political forecaster to move the race from “toss up” to a rating favoring either party …”

Debate aftermath

From last night’s debate, Hillary believes gun control promotes racial healing:

The Donald was not much better on the issue:

“… Clinton, in a tense exchange over criminal justice issues, reiterated her support for what Democrats and gun control advocates have called a “no fly, no buy” policy to restrict individuals on the airline terrorist watch list from being able to purchase guns. Trump’s response: “We have to look very strongly at no-fly lists. … I tend to agree with that.” …”

We deserve better than this.

Copy this

New ad from Hillary:

I think this ad is very effective. The NRA should copy it.