Endorsed candidate Claudia Tenney defeated challenger Brian Maher in both the Republican and Conservative primaries yesterday in the new AD-101. Microstamping was an issue as well as Maher’s membership in Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
McDonald v. Marchione
The race in the new SD-43 pits incumbent Roy McDonald against Saratoga Co. Clerk Kathy Marchione. McDonald has gotten himself into a lot of trouble over his gay marriage vote, which clearly was not done out of principle, but out of Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign contribution.
Both have pro-gun records and both are trying to make the most out of them.
From the McDonald campaign:
From the Marchione campaign:
- Gun owners group endorses Kathy Marchione for state Senate
- Proud to have received an A rating from NYSRPA
- Full-sized color postcard from the campaign
Marchione’s postcard is much nicer and 4x bigger than the one NRA did. I believe it will motivate more people to support her than McDonald’s endorsement will get for him.
Castelli v. Buchwald
As previously discussed, some Democrat candidates are trying to make gun control an issue in their races in the hopes they can intimidate the Senate Republicans into bringing the microstamping bill to the floor.
One of those races is in the new AD-93 between incumbent Bob Castelli and White Plains Councilman David Buchwald. Buchwald claimed that by voting against microstamping, Castelli (who is a retired cop as well as life NRA/NYSRPA, firearms instructor, competitor, etc.), “He’s been siding with the NRA and against Governor Cuomo, and our law enforcement professionals.”
Bob complained to the Westchestchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee about it. The result:
“… Acting on complaints filed by incumbent Robert Castelli, R-Goldens Bridge, and Democratic challenger David Buchwald of White Plains, the committee found that the Buchwald campaign was “overreaching” and “misleading” in claiming that Castelli “voted against common sense gun safety reforms” and “voted to allow someone convicted of domestic violence to buy a gun” in statements to media and posted on its website …”
The Committee doesn’t have any enforcement authority so they cannot force Buchwald to retract his assertions, but Castelli can use their decision to blunt his line of attack.
Primary voting guide
The 2012 Primary Voting Guide has been posted online and is running in the current edition of NY Outodoor News. “Orange cards” will be arriving over the next few days in certain districts.
Breslin v. Morse
The Democrat primary between incumbent Senator Neil Breslin and Legislator Shawn Morse in the new SD-44 is one of the races to watch in next week’s election. Morse has creditability as Chairman of the Albany Co. Legislature, is well-funded, and has enough local support to make it a very competitive race.
The candidates held a debate yesterday. The Times-Union covered it and gun control did come up:
“… Breslin and Morse also differed when it came to thoughts on reducing crime. Breslin was in favor of stricter gun control for pistols and automatic weapons, while Morse said he’d prefer if the burden of unfunded mandates could be taken off counties so they could institute youth mentoring programs …”
Breslin can be counted on to co-sponsor a number of bad bills, including microstamping.
With low turnout in the primaries, Morse has a reasonable shot at defeating Breslin. The NYSRPA-PVF is doing an “orange card” mailing to the district reminding people of Breslin’s voting record which will hopefully push him off the cliff. Since the district is heavily Democrat, the primary winner will likely cruise through the November general election.
New York is #1
California may be #1 on the Brady Campaign’s scorecard for gun control laws, but New York is #1 where it counts: corruption:
“… From 1976 to 2010, New York had the most corruption convictions of public officials of any state anywhere in the country, weighing in at a cool 2,522 convictions …”
Schumer says Obama and Romney are not equal on gun control
Guns in the Democrat platform
The Hill reports on gun control in the Democrat Party platform:
“… The draft language of the Democrats’ 2012 platform … argues that current safeguards protecting the public against gun violence are insufficient and urges “an honest and open conversation about firearms.” The document also calls for “reasonable regulation” governing guns, including laws banning assault weapons and requiring all gun sellers — not just licensed dealers — to perform background checks on potential buyers …”
Like the GOP platform, the platform is written by party functionaries and is completely unenforceable. It does show a mindset of what the Democrats consider their voter base.
“… Most of the gun language in the Democrats’ draft platform mirrors what was in the 2008 document, but the call for an “open conversation” about gun control — something that’s been all but absent for years on Capitol Hill — is a new addition. The provision marks a subtle shift in messaging for Democratic leaders who have been reluctant to press for tighter gun control — or even hold hearings on the subject — for fear of a political backlash …”
Well, guess what? This is going to cause some political backlash.
No matter how you cut it, the American public is in no mood for more gun control. What point is there in antagonizing an organized constituency (NRA, etc.) when the general public already thinks the President has done a lousy job at running the country? It’s not as if Obama can afford to turn more voters against him.
Furthermore, what point is there in pandering to the kook fringe which have no ability to generate any sort of money/votes around their issue? They don’t even talk about organizing a GOTV effort; it’s just lots of whining about neither party adopting their issues.
Clinton Eastwood and the gun vote
One of the commentators made a remark during Bill O’Reilly’s coverage of the GOP convention yesterday that Clinton Eastwood was brought in to get the gun vote for Mitt Romney. O’Reilly’s (paraphrased) response was that there is no way gunnies would vote for Obama and it was just a matter if they would vote at all.
This is true. I still don’t see any great enthusiasm from the gun community to turn out the vote for Romney, even after the addition of the legitimately pro-gun Paul Ryan to the ticket. NRA’s “All In” campaign isn’t very inspiring either.
Upset with Boehner
The right is upset with House Speaker John Boehner for telling the truth:
“… “Have you ever met anybody who read the party platform?” Boehner said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “I’ve not met ever anybody … It ought to be on one sheet of paper … That way Americans could actually read it …” …”
And he’s right. It’s 62 pages long. Other than party groupies who is going to take time to read it? Certainly not the voters. There is a reason political ads are short and to the point.
“… Every four years, grassroots activists from around the country who have won seats as delegates at the Republican National Convention develop the party’s national platform … Some activists work for months just to win the right to attend the convention so they have a chance at influencing a platform that officially defines the principles and policy positions for which the party stands …”
That’s great. The problem here is, like the Libertarian Party’s platform, is that there is no way to enforce it. There is no litmus test or oath of loyalty required to join a political party and there is no mechanism to punish candidates and officeholders who do not follow the party platform. NRA reps. can go on and on about the pro-gun parts of the platform, but it is nothing more than the GOP pandering for the gun vote.