The Hill reports today that while the Democratic Party is pushing gun control in Washington even after it went down in flames in the Senate, they’re recruiting “pro-gun” candidates to run in pro-gun states.
Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate.
The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics.
But according to the Democratpartymedia, pro-gun senators from pro-gun states who happen to be Republicans either aren’t listening to the voters (“90 percent are with us!”) or are under sway of the Svengalis in the NRA.
The two pro-gun Dems being eyed for Senate races are Gov. Brian Schweitzer in Montana and former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in South Dakota. Sandlin even earned the eeevil NRA’s endorsement against Republican Kristi Noem in 2010 (Noem won). Both have strong ratings from the NRA, but then again, so did Sen. Joe Manchin. He ran as a different kind of Democrat before being elected and becoming the same kind of Democrat as all the other ones, pushing a gun background check that everyone knew wouldn’t have done a thing to prevent Sandy Hook.
This is all a new variation on an old song. In years past, Democrats would cast themselves as strongly pro-life to win local and state elections, then when it came time to run for national office, they would airbrush their history and run as strongly pro-choice. Both Al Gore and, believe it or not, Bill Clinton both cast themselves as pro-life when running for office in Tennessee and Arkansas. Neither meant it, as their national careers proved. It’s a safe bet that any “pro-gun” Democrat elected in the current environment will pull similar moves once they get to Washington.
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