A couple of polls are showing challenger Randy Altschuler slightly ahead of incumbent Congressman Tim Bishop in CD-1. Bishop barely squeaked out a win in ’10 against Altschuler by 263 votes. The district has a slight Republican enrollment advantage so hopefully this along with NRA’s endorsement of Altschuler and a general disgust with the Obama administration will be enough to push Bishop off the cliff this time around.
Bloomberg money dump
Da Mayor is putting his money where his mouth is:
“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he will spend an “eight-figure” sum on local, state and federal races across the country, “with a focus on issues including gun laws and education policy.” …
Bloomberg not satisfied
Despite Obama’s public support for a new AWB, Mayor Mike isn’t satisfied:
“… “I think what we did get was a perfect example of obfuscation and very little honesty,” Bloomberg said. “If you think about it, the president, as I remember, said he wants more conversation. Well, we’ve been saying this for quite a while now. We don’t need more talk. We need some leadership. Governor Romney said he brought both sides of the debate together. Well, why isn’t he trying to do that right now? … Then they had all this gibberish talking about education, that education is the solution to stop the killing. My recollection is that if the Aurora theater shooter, he was a PhD candidate, OK? And Virginia Tech, the massacre was committed by a student at a first class university … The solution is to prevent all people who shouldn’t have guns from getting them.” …”
The antis got an awful lot out of Obama last night and it is going to cost him politically. They should be happy with that.
Obama calls for gun ban
I believe President Obama committed political suicide during last night’s debate where he called for reinstating an AWB:
“… what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced …”
He’s been real careful to avoid gun control over the last four years. Why he decided to say this now I don’t know. My only guess is with polls now showing Mitt Romney at 50% and his ’08 supporters abandoning him, he’s trying to shore up a disintegrating base.
Solid as Jello
Via FoxNews, “Gun rights groups now aligning solidly behind Romney“:
“Gun-rights groups perceive President Barack Obama as a threat to unfettered access to firearms. They once had qualms about Mitt Romney, too. But times and circumstances have changed for Romney, the GOP presidential nominee now in tune with the National Rifle Association and similar organizations, whose members are motivated voters …”
What do they mean “once had”? Gunnies still do have reservations about Romney, lots of them. He’s not “in tune” with NRA either. NRA appears to have gotten some assurances from Romney on SCOTUS nominees and H.R. 822 which, along with not making Romney into the second coming of Charlton Heston, have quieted people down somewhat.
While the membership can be motivated to vote, I have not heard a single person say they’re excited about voting for Romney because of his latest positions on gun rights. Fortunately, with the economy such an overriding issue this election, the gun issue isn’t high up on peoples list of concerns right now.
Voting guide
NYC Legislative Report #11
New York City Legislative Report #11 is now online.
Ryan cuts interview short
Paul Ryan interview on ABC affiliate WJRT. According to the Daily News, the reporter knew he was over time when he started asking questions about gun control and taxes.
NRA ad
Here’s an NRA ad they’re running in Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. I’m not impressed with it.
NRA endorsed Romney
“… “As the Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed, the Second Amendment protects a basic and fundamental individual right—the right to bear arms,” said Mitt Romney. “And it is the NRA that protects the Second Amendment. I am proud to have their support for my candidacy, and when I am president, I will do all in my power to defend and protect the right of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms.” …”
This was hardly unexpected and not everyone is happy about it. At least they appear to have learned something from their endorsement of John McCain in that they make it clear that they are concerned about the future makeup of the Supreme Court:
“… Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will protect our Right to Keep and Bear Arms by appointing Supreme Court justices who will uphold the rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago – two landmark cases which held that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental, individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms for all law-abiding Americans …”
While clearly all members won’t like this, at least they will understand it. NRA isn’t trying to make Romney himself into a great hero of the 2A, which is what they tried to do with McCain, and that is what pissed so many people off because it was such blatant bullshit.