Taking focus at the campaign of his principle rival, Illinois Senator and Presumptive Democratic Nominee, Barack Obama, the Republican Contender, John McCain, is focusing on the recent statements made by Senator Obama in favor of the Supreme Court ruling, this after statements made earlier this year by the Illinois Senator seemed to indicate that he was in favor of the District of Columbia’s case.
“An incredible flip flop” is the choice of words used by Kansas Senator and McCain surrogate Sam Brownback, as he takes up the trail for his party’s nominee. At question, a series of statements given within the last year in the lead up to the Supreme Court ruling both by Senator Obama and his campaign that seem to contradict his current position on the issue given yesterday.
This includes stories like the one written the Nedra Pickler at the Associated Press on February 15, 2008, “Obama supports individual gun rights”, where it is drawn from his press conference that he supported the DC Gun Ban and one written by the Chicago Tribune’s James Oliphant and Michael J. Higgins on November 20th of 2007 entitled “Court to hear gun case”. In the said article the authors state, “But the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said that he '...believes that we can recognize and respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners and the right of local communities to enact common sense laws to combat violence and save lives. Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional.” A statement now trying to be explained away by Obama Spokesman Bill Burton, who has said “That statement was obviously an inartful attempt to explain the Senator's consistent position.”
But the comparison between those statements and his voting record while a State Senator in Illinois, a record National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre referred to as being on the “wrong side of the second amendment”, are being examined side by side with his release yesterday that highlighted his reaction to the ruling. The point in contention? Essentially the crux of his statement, given with this one sentence, “I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view.”
McCain, who has also lauded the courts decision, stating “landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States”, are contending that the Obama campaign is perhaps taking the warning of LaPierre, “It's bad politics to be on the wrong side of the Second Amendment come election time” hoping to pin another flip flop on him in order to highlight his inexperience and poor judgment.
The McCain campaign has come out swinging, bringing back the controversial elitist comment that put Senator Obama in hot water since making it: “Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today's ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right -- sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.” A reference to Senator Obama's closed door fundraising speech in California back in April, a speech that had many people raise eyebrows when he said "it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
But how much leg room or wiggle room does Senator McCain have on this issue?
Having received criticisms from both of the Second Amendment Lobbying Organizations Senator McCain has received a C+ rating from the NRA and an F- from the more extreme Gun Owners of America, the GOA going as far as to say “in 2001, McCain went from being a supporter of anti-gun bills to being a lead sponsor.” Yet, at the 2007 NRA Convention the Arizona Senator contended that “For more than two decades, I've opposed the efforts of the anti-gun crowd to ban guns, ban ammunition, ban magazines, and paint gun owners as some kind of fringe group; dangerous in 'modern' America. Some even call you 'extremists.' My friends, gun owners are not extremists, you are the core of modern America.”
But, by comparison, in the estimation of Second Amendment lobbyists, Senator Obama is worse. Consistently receiving the lowest ranking from both organizations, the NRA classifies the Illinois Senator as an enemy of gun owners rights. Their they point to his record, classified as one of the most liberal records of a Senator in the Senate, consistently voting in favor of more gun controls, as a clear indication that he is not, despite his claims, a friend of gun owners. This record included a 2001 vote, while Senator Obama was still a state Senator in Illinois, against allowing those who obtained a domestic protective order from the courts to be able to carry a handgun, currently banned in the Chicago area, for their protection.
So either way, in the estimation of either organization or the several million members that they represent, neither candidate is perhaps perfect and neither candidate is perhaps going to offer what they want. That being said, with all things considered, Senator McCain is perhaps the more palpable option, at least to the NRA, considering that he is considered much more friendly to Gun Owners issues and once upon a time he was considered one of the strongest advocates for the Second Amendment in the United States Senate. That ran against the record of Barack Obama, especially considering Senator Obama receives a new perfect rating from the pro-gun control group the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Crime, may not be all of what they wanted, but is considerably more than what they figure they would end up with in a Obama presidency considering he has never been considered a Second Amendment advocate to them,
Chances are though that there is little in McCain’s dialog that is going to appeal to the Gun Owners of America, a group that gave its highest praise to Texas Congressman and Conservative Libertarian Ron Paul. Then again, if anything, they will perhaps find themselves more closely aligned with former Georgia Congressman turned 2008 Libertarian Presidential Hopeful Bob Barr.
It should be seen as that though he may not be able to win the organization, Senator McCain isn’t trying to appeal that much to the GOA leadership and more to their membership, essentially trying to place a sense of urgency in them about the potential of a Barack Obama Presidency and what it could mean, according to his campaign, about their gun rights.
Only time will tell how well it works.
This probably is not going to be an issue with a lot of staying power this election if the Heller decision is all that comes out. It has received a lot more attention then the other split court decisions of the Supreme Court because, for the first time since the enactment of the Second Amendment in 1791, the Court has ruled on the meaning and scope of it and because it is a highly charged issue, with both sides feeling very strongly about it. But even this will fade into the woodwork with still several months before the November voting day.
At this point, at this junction, more than anything it is a week long story, or would have been if the decision didn’t fall near the tail end of the week and the fact that Obama’s position was hard to read and make sense of before the decision, that is without going back and looking at it through his record, makes it hard to necessarily create a degree of trouble for him.
Now, yes, if this is it, the usual mailers will perhaps go out to the people identified as having the Second Amendment as their top concern, the NRA membership and the such, perhaps interjected with message that at least one Supreme Court Justice will probably retire in the next few years, especially considering the age of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, appointed during the Presidency of Gerald Ford, who will be 92 in four years, and that a new President would have to appoint their successor. A point that will be driven home time and time again by both sides, especially when you consider that most of the cases before the Supreme Court have been split court decisions with a swing vote, usually Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, deciding the fate of the court in a five/four decision.
That being said, it has does have the power to become a bigger issue, depending on how fast the NRA and other Second Amendment Lobby Groups put together their promised campaigns that are currently looking at other cities and states to challenge gun control legislation in. If they are able to start these vowed campaigns by early late September or early October all bets are off about how important this issue will be in the minds of voters because it could play an increased role.
But then just a few thoughts I suppose.
