Gun control push this week

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The antis are having another push for their agenda this week.

Mayor Bloomberg kicks things off this morning with a dog-and-pony show claiming the “Largest seizure of illegal guns in New York City history.”  On Wednesday, Obama’s Organizing for Action will hold a national “action day” on gun control.  This will be supported locally with a rally on Staten Island.

I don’t see this accomplishing much of anything except stroking Bloomberg’s ego.  There isn’t any evidence that the public is more interested in the issue now than they were several months ago when the issue tanked in Congress.

Learning from Cuomo

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Chris Christie apparently learned a lot from Andrew Cuomo’s mistakes.  He vetoed several gun control bills yesterday.

Finger Lakes protest

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Following up on my previous post, there was another Cuomo protest during his visit to the Finger Lakes region this week:

Eating their own

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Some blowback from one of Daniel Squadron’s opponents over the Schumer ad:

“… Councilwoman Tish James releasing a blistering “fact check” email against rival State Senator Dan Squadron for his new “results”-themed campaign commercial … “As an Albany legislator, Squadron has NEVER passed even a single piece of gun legislation into law,” Ms. James press secretary Pat Barrientos charged in the missive. “In fact, over the past two years as a failed Albany politician, Squadron has passed a total of zero (0) bills into law.” …

This is true, but he did care about the issue and the antis are all about feelings (as the facts aren’t on their side).

“… The Squadron campaign, however, fired back with a few big “fact checks” of their own.  “The James campaign is 100% wrong on the facts,” Squadron spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said in a statement. “Chuck Schumer, advocates, and New Yorkers across the state agree: Daniel Squadron has been a leader who’s gotten results combating gun violence and improving the lives of families, kids, and seniors.” …”

That’s a bit of a stretch.  Sure he supported every gun control initiative, but others were prime sponsors of the bulk of the gun control bills in the Senate.

Essentially, they’re fighting over who has been more outspoken on an issue the public doesn’t really care about while running for a job (Public Advocate) which doesn’t have any legislative, legal or regulatory authority.  Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right ….

Not believable

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Sienna College published a poll showing Gov. Cuomo’s approval rating on the rise:

“Almost immediately after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed New York’s SAFE Act into law in January, rallies popped up across the state … But what a difference seven months can make.  According to a Siena College Institute poll, 65 percent approve of the job the governor is doing.  And how did Governor Cuomo fair with “upstaters?” Fifty-five percent approve of the job he’s doing, up 9 percent since just two months ago …”

Those results are simply is not believable.  If they were then why does Cuomo look so worried?

Sienna did include this caveat:

“… The poll might not accurately reflect the opinions of people in the north country …”

So, they’re saying their own poll is worthless?

Schumer’s new gun control ad

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Sen. Schumer is inserting himself into the NYC Public Advocate race with this ad for Dan Squadron:

Too late to make friends

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Following up on Fred Dicker’s earlier piece where he states Cuomo’s internal polling indicates he’s pretty much lost everything north of the City, the Governor has decided to spend time with the redneck underclass:

“… During the past several weeks, Governor Cuomo has spent much of his time in upstate New York … There’s been good reason politically for Cuomo to lavish all of the attention on portions of upstate … Until recently, Cuomo enjoyed sky high approval ratings from nearly all New Yorkers, in the 70% range.  But, after he championed strict new gun control laws in January, and pursued a left leaning agenda during the legislative session, his support among upstaters has declined precipitously.  In New York City, his popularity is still high, but in upstate about half of voters say they’d prefer someone else as governor …”

Why would Cuomo think that spending time with people he’s fucked over is going to improve his standing with them?  I realize this is part of his “major course correction“ strategy (which I can’t possibly see working), but he’s exposing himself to even more protests which in turn will drive his approval rating even lower.

Journal News boycott aftermath

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The Journal News continues to feel the fallout over their decision to publish maps to gun owners homes.

Having lost ~30% of their subscribers and an unknown number of advertisers because of it, the paper is now letting employees go.  One of those canned is their Rockland editor Caryn McBride:

“… McBride gained fame earlier this year for her involvement in the Journal News gun map fiasco.  Police reports indicated McBride had called the Clarkstown Police Department to notify them of torrents of angry phone calls and letters the newspaper received following the publication of the map.  The Rockland editor said she felt threatened by the complaints, but local police did not agree a credible threat against the safety of employees of the newspaper existed.  Unsatisfied, McBride and other executives decided to hire armed guards to protect their property, causing an uproar due to the perceived hypocrisy …”

Good!

Too late

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Fred Dicker writes:

“Gov. Cuomo plans a “major course correction” when he seeks re-election next year, shifting from the left-of-center agenda that has dominated his actions this year to the political center … Cuomo’s “major course correction” resulted from disturbing private polls showing the governor could lose most upstate counties next year because of the passage of his anti-gun Safe Act, which has enraged hundreds of thousands of upstate residents, and because of high unemployment and steady job losses …”

Nobody is going to believe this.  It would be a obvious desperation move on Cuomo’s part, a sign he he realizes his presidential aspirations are headed down the drain.

Bartlett campaigns on SAFE repeal

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David Bartlett is one of three candidates running for Columbia Co. Sheriff.  He’s running in the GOP primary and sent out a campaign flyer (front, back) stating he will “Work to repeal the New York SAFE Act.”

Governor Cuomo’s efforts to quiet police opposition to SAFE with a limited exemption do not appear to be working out quite as planned.