“NRA members are not legion, and their views on gun control are increasingly out of touch with that of the median US voter. But they are motivated, and form a loyal army the NRA can call out in general elections and, crucially for issue discipline, primaries. And while it is today an effectively Republican-only organization, its ratings of politicians on gun issues – and threats to take out anyone with less than an A rating – keeps Republicans firmly in line.
“This explains why lawmakers in Florida, where the Parkland high school massacre occurred, are still scared to cross the NRA, despite the fact that the group has not made a contribution to a single member of the state legislature in a decade.” – Michael Paarlberg in After the supreme court blow, unions should look to a new model: the NRA [via theguardian.com]
But NRA members are legion, and millions more vote with them. Together their numbers probably compare with organized labor. Keep denying it, see where it gets you.
The numbers organized labor sites is inflated, many union members vote their guns as well. If the “pro-labor” candidate is up against the “pro-gun” candidate, then its my experience that pro-gun wins out. This is not universal, but I’ve seen a few that would vote D until Hillary and now laugh at the Trump Derangement Syndrome.
that’s largely true….many schoolteachers, for example…don’t agree with their unions position on whether or not they should be armed……..
The NRA works, not because of it’s money or it’s 6 million members, but because it spearheads a cause that is a motivating force for 100,000,000 voters. The unions are going to have to find a cause to use the NRA’s playbook. Padding their own pockets isn’t much of a cause for voters to get behind.
Exactly. The nra dropped me. But I always vote my gun. And since nearly every home in America has at least one gun owner we see where the nra’s power comes from.
In the age of the innerwebz the msm can no longer control the message. People are getting the truth.
How did the NRA “drop you”?
I live in CA. Along with millions of other gun owners that the nra turned their backs on. I will vote my guns. I just will not donate to the nra at this time.
You fellow Californians dropped you, Sir. The NRA cannot influence politicians who are voted in by a majority that hates guns. Are you going to say that GOA dropped you? How about NAGR? Or JPFO? Or Pink Pistols? Or SAF? Or Calguns?
Your issues begin and end with your neighbors, and there’s nothing the NRA can do about that. I really wish those behind enemy lines in blue states realized that the NRA is a national organization rather than a state one, and stop expecting it to clean up state-level messes that seem beyond even the local groups to handle. The Cavalry is in no position to swoop in and save you from your fellow citizens.
James is exactly right. I can’t believe that the majority of Californians are willing to toss their Second Amendment, or any other rights given them by God, but if they aren’t willing to get off their lazy butts and join the cause why should NRA members from around the rest of the country pour their resources into a fight the residents aren’t interested in engaging in? Ditto NY, CA, IL, CT, OR, WA, NJ and other states. And most of those states are the ones where residents are fleeing because ot this and taxation problems, not to mention idiotic “sactuary state/city” issues that again, the majority of legal residents cannot agree with. But it’s easier to just quit than to keep in the fight and worry about being portrayed by the pols and MSM as being the ones out of touch…
Of course one can argue that these “inactions” will multiply and spread to other states, but that’ll only happen if these people fleeing those states are determined to bring into their new states a lot of the same crap “ideals” from which they were fleeing in the first place. Crazy? Look around at places like TX, OK, IA. Please stay where you are and fix your own state- you end up doing the same thing the flood of illegals is doing to the entire US.
patience james…a new SCOTUS will probably allow a lot more lawsuits to be brought before them…
Exactly. There are far more people who agree with the NRA’s stance on gun control than are represented by the number of members.
Truth. I kinda come and go over the last 30 years with the NRA. For years I was solid, sticker on the ’78 Ford Bronco, all in. Then “jack-booted thugs” turned me off. Something will come up and it feels like I’m needed and I’ll join again (though I’m definitely not a “joiner” and never have been). Then they’ll do something that irritates me (besides constantly begging for money) and I’ll lapse. Most recently it was telling me, if indirectly, what kind of cooler to buy. I like my Yetis and don’t defend them to people who always try to tell me “Brand X is better and half the cost, and they’re patriots!” Which is mostly bullshit, plus I like the damn Yetis, I like those guys that started it, and I’m as far away from a hipster as one can get. I like their marketing, too, which I know I’m paying for when I buy a Yeti. People should buy the cooler that THEY like and I won’t judge them for it.
But I don’t get my arrows cut at Dick’s any more..
“jack- booted thugs” certainly seemed to apply at Waco….
100 million? No. There are closer to 200 million gun owners, and NRA has 58% approvals among all Americans in the most recent gallup.
NRA approvals: 58%
people who say owning a gun makes a home safer: Pew 59%, Gallup 63%
That clearly indicates more like a 60% gun ownership rate. Asserting all gun owners will tell a pollster they own a gun in a direct question is silly since we know from the science that those type of questions only capture half of a of any group when it comes to high privacy issues and questions. More indirect questions (exactly like, ” is your home safer with a firearm than without, or do you approve of the NRA) are established to be the most accurate in high privacy issues.
The source of the NRA’s power is the fact that, yes, with some disagreement son tactics and strategy, and perhaps some disagreement on some particular small issues, the vast majority of gun owners generally support the NRA.
A clarification for Gov.
Padding the campaign coffers of the DNC isn’t much of a cause for voters to get behind. THAT is where the union extortion $ end up.
With the Janus decision, public sector unions (the last stronghold of unions in America), are going to to have a lot less money for activism and donations. And if they try to increase dues to make up the difference, they’ll just drive more people out of the union.
unions advocate for the specific wants and needs of their membership…gun rights, on the other hand…affect a much larger swath of the population…
“NRA members are not legion, and their views on gun control are increasingly out of touch with that of the median US voter.” Showing how out of touch with the median value *they* are.
“Showing how out of touch with the median value *they* are.”
They are utterly blind to it. They don’t understand that being anti-gun costs them *dearly* in votes in the US heartland. The Democrat party would be an un-stoppable political machine if they would only drop the gun issue (‘issue’ in their minds, not ours) like the hot potato and electrified third rail that it actually is.
Just learn to accept it, Leftists. “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Use it as an excellent opportunity for you to work on your lacking coping skills. The Supreme Court will soon be giving the 2A the proper respect that it deserves.
Guns *are* America. Leave them alone. Deal with those that pick them up and use them in crime harshly.
Leave the honest, law-abiding citizens alone…
You are right. But, they can’t do it, not won’t, can’t. Their narcissism and arrogance will not allow them to give up the issue. From their perspective, no one knows better than them, and anyone who cannot recognize their intellectual, emotional, and moral superiority is deplorable. This is why logic and data have no impact on them. The narcissism and arrogance is so strong. How strong? Strong enough to produce what we have called TDS.
much like SS for the repubs…gun control is the “tar baby” of the democratic party…for a bunch of so-called “educated “types they seem awfully stupid about this…….
But wait.. The NRA is just a shill organization for all the firearm manufactures and the members have no real say and actually don’t agree with any of their policy’s.
Oh hell… this entire time the Libs had been confusing and describing their Unions with our NRA, well that explains a lot…
I’m pretty sure it’s from animal sacrifices and devil worship. That’s what the last MDA mailer told me anyway.
The biggest difference I’ve noticed between pro 2nd and anti 2nd people is the pro 2nd people care about their rights while the anti 2nd people really only care about sticking it to their perceived political enemies. Very few actually care one way or the other about firearm related statistics or legislation. It’s just “let’s stick it to those other guys.” Which makes it more offensive really. It’s one thing to honestly believe what you claim to as wrong or misguided as it may be but to use a rights affecting platform for such a petty purpose is really disgusting.
The real source of NRA’s power is its published membership count. That’s it. Do you want to be counted among those who care enough about the 2A? Or, do you want to be NOT-counted like a Fudd who inherited his shotgun and plans to go duck-hunting – next year?
It costs just $10/year to be an NRA member with no magazine and no voting right. I know, for a lot of gun-owners that’s two boxes of .22 rimfire! Far too much to invest in the 2A.
Assume 100 million family members with guns. Four members per family; one NRA member per family. That would be 25 million members (compared to 6 million now).
Go to lunch in the beltway and mention you are an NRA member; does the maître d’ ask you how long you have been a member of the National Restaurant Association and offer you a discount on your bill?
Imagine the response if there were 25 million NRA members?
That’s what I keep saying. It is disgraceful that the NRA’s membership is so pathetically small. When the AARP has 37 million members, the NRA’s 5 to 6 million is pathetic. No wonder the left keeps going after the NRA; they think they’re vulnerable.
The NRA needs to be at least 25 million members. And those.members need to vote for directors that support our interests.
With
20 million new members we could dramatically transform the mission and actions of the NRA.
there are at least that many “fellow travelers” when it comes to voting on gun issues…something they fail to grasp….
Okay, but how do you keep the NRA from bugging you all the time with calls and junk mail?
You probably don’t.
Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA?
A: Simply email us at [email protected] or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the “Do Not Promote” list. This will significantly reduce the amount of mail you receive without affecting important mailings, magazine service, or your membership renewal.
See above. It’s really simple. Even for the simple.
compared to the scam and spammers they’re minor leaguers…and always polite if you turn them down…
Where are you getting a $10/year membership? I might get a $5 or $10 discount off the $40/year membership but I just got a mailing yesterday telling me to renew before the August dues increase?
An Associate Membership is available for $10 a year, it’s a basic membership which does not include a magazine.
More info about the different memberships can be found at: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp?campaignid=XP030129
Wait, wasn’t it just super cool to bash the NRA and Trump on TTAG? Neither are perfect, but I’ll take either over crappy gun laws, spineless RINOs, or Hillary Clinton.
At the end of the day, racking up the wins is all that matters. Politics is actually a lot like sports. It doesn’t really matter what the QB did while he was drunk, or what the coach said at that dinner, or who the team CEO screwed. If the team wins the super bowl, that’s all that will be remembered.
This. And well said. There’s an eerie similarity between Fudds and keyboard commandos.
Join now
The only thing I find objectionable about the NRA is its constant shilling for money – but it needs money to operate and they are not a tax-exempt organization that can depend on charitable donations. So I send some bucks sometimes when I can afford it. But otherwise, I think the NRA and its membership is successfully standing up for our 2A rights, and it’s the right thing to do.
BS. Perhaps you just need to step up the plate and upgrade your membership. IF you are a member.
I’ve rcvd ONE letter from the NRA in the last couple months. Yesterday rcvd offer toupgrade from Sustaining to PATRON for $300. Have had so much winning in the last week I’m feelin’ all benevolent so might as well sign on.
You not getting enough mail to validate your existence? Register to vote with undeclared as a party. EVERYONE will mail you piles of stuff.
just got my free range bag…nice…make sure to ask for it….
should have avoided that “russian connection” thing though….may come back to haunt them….
The NRA is mostly people who just want to be left alone. Their guns are their business. And they want to mind their own business.
You nailed it. That summarizes this NRA Life Member along with every other NRA member I know. We are constantly beating back all the life improving “ideas” the Progressives hatch on a daily basis. We got plenty enough rules and taxes. Leave us alone.
Mr. Paarlberg, and others of his ilk, insist that Republican politicians vote the way they do based the NRA’s ability to affect their job security, and not based on personal convictions about the Constitution and their oath to defend it.
I suspect that both are true to some extent, but the left assumes that it is only the former and not the latter. People with no principles can’t understand politicians acting on principle.
The NRA failed when it allowed the National Firearms Act of 1934 to stand without offering opposition, the 1968 Gun Control Act, the “national instant check” system, the “no new machine gun for civilians” ban in 1986, the so-called “assault weapons ban in 1991, and other infringements on the Second Amendment. The next infringement will be a ban on “bump stocks” and other “rate increasing mechanisms” that the NRA seems to want, offering feeble or no opposition, in the spirit of “compromise”.
Let’s face it. What better way to increase membership than to “allow” infringements to be enacted and then push for a new membership drive. Yes, the NRA has done good, but its spirit of “compromise” will only lead to one thing…confiscation.
If the NRA is truly the premier “gun rights” organization, it must reject ALL compromise…
You’re wrong.
Where am I “wrong”? Please elaborate. The NRA HAS compromised way too much.
You’d prefer “You’re an idiot”
This COUNTRY failed when it elected an incompetent marxist in 1932 (and 36, 40, 44). The NRA (and the Republican Party and many other organizations). Didn’t NEED to make a total change in their mission before the 1932 election. FUDD was good enough. They didn’t have your crystal ball to see into the future. If they had, Hoover would have won reelection (Hoover was a pretty good FUDD who had the country on the correct course to weather a moderate downturn. It took a commie demtard running things to run the US off a cliff).
34 and 68. The nra wasn’t involved in politics then. They did hunter and marksmanship training. For their first hundred years they were a training and safety group.
total bullshit!…the guy got elected FOUR TIMES!…doesn’t that tell you something…or are you really that dense?
gun control = ahole
You can’t even stretch blame on NRA for either NFA (1934) or GC ’68, since before 1971 NRA was strictly a target, marksmanship and firearms safety organization. I’ve posted that fact around this joint numerous times and I’m betting you know it but that’s about all you’ve got. No real lobbying of any kind until 1972 or so since back then the general public considered the government actually trying to take away firearms from the citizens completely unprobable.
FOPA of 1986 was a stab in the back by Bob Dole by allowing an amendment on Class III after the main votes were taken and at the end of a long session. And no one- not GOA or the NAGRs or anyone else could’ve prevented the passage of the semiauto ban or Brady act as they were going to pass no matter what anyone outside the beltway said. WTH did you want NRA to do- mobilize a bunch of crazies like some of you and take their guns right into the US Capital? Go ahead and try it, but I’ll also bet you’ll never be able to raise enough idiots like that to join you so your demise will only be a footnote on the back page of history, if that. The brilliance of NRA’s actions concerning the Clinton era laws was to provide a sunset which ended the affect after 10 years on semi autos, and allowing states to provide their own backgorund check system. History and facts seem to be lost on some around here but it seems to be getting better.
BTW- want NRA to stop asking you for money? (Even though your membership fee doesn’t go towards actual lobbying or candidate’s campaign funding) Write “Do Not Solicit” on the next form letter you get and send it back. You can do the same on new or renewal applications. Try it… Of course then you’re hardly helping with the everlasting battle, but there’s a lot of grunts out there like that, it certainly is their right and it doesn’t seem to bother them until something looms up to theaten them and their little weapons cache personally.
Plus about a guzabillion.
Just repeating “what part of will not be infringed do you not understand” on the internet doesn’t buy anyone anything.
Acting on things does. In this America, acting on things means giving money, not tough words, to organizations that fight for rights over the long term.
In the same way that when states passed gun controls banning high capacity magazines, requiring those in possession to a) turn them in, b) destroy them, or c) move them out of the state, and next to nothing was turned in, nothing could be shown to have moved out of state, and nothing showed any were destroyed.
This was a tactic used by the colonists back in the 1770s. It was called “Civil Disobedience”. It is still alive today in NY, MA, CN, NJ, MD, CA, etc. OR just defeated the assault weapon ban.
In CA, especially in the rural counties, even liberals (as opposed to progressives) love their firearms.
the NFA [“gangster gun act”] was passed because most police departments were seriously outgunned at the time…the idea was to discourage but not eliminate machine gun ownership…the same could be said in ’86…when mg’s could be had for less than the cost of the transfer tax and were becoming much too common for congress in the crime-ridden eighties…they’re always going to be available but only if you’re willing to jump through all the hoops and incur the cost imposed by the limited supply available…
NRA membership is 10% of turnout in any general election… Not a constituency you want to piss off.
Michael Paarlberg, and theguardian.com, are the PROBLEM.
The PROBLEM isn’t allowed to define the problem.
The PROBLEM does not get to offer solutions to the problem (unless they want to suck flaregun).
Although there are “only” about 6 million members, at least one national survey indicated some 15 million people said they were members. All of those folks are likely to vote their 2A rights, and millions more are influenced by NRA support for, or against a candidate. Unless the candidate is running in a deep blue area, they would be unwise to ignore the NRA and its members!
NRA member here…they went way off the rail with the “review bumpstocks” BS. They’re the big dog but not in my crappy state. We’ll see what happens with another “supposedly”conservative judge(as Kennedy was thought in 1987)😧
Keep in mind that the bumpstock issue was moved away from congressional action (i.e., a law) by the simple expedient of a Trump presidential order. Presidential orders can be easily changed, while laws, once passed, cannot. As someone said at the time, the bumpstock issue isn’t the hill on which the NRA chooses to die. The NRA understands realpolitik.
in the absence of landmark cases brought before SCOTUS…something neither side had the confidence to do..many states have taken it upon themselves to pass onerous restrictions that probably wouldn’t pass judicial review…it will take awhile to roll much of this back…
Quite often, firearms owners are their own worst enemies. The duck hunters don’t like the AR-15 “black rifles” so they see no problem if attempts are made to ban them. The traditional rifle owners don’t like machine guns, so they have no problem with them being legislated out of existence. Some pistol owners see nothing wrong with certain long guns being outlawed just as some rifle owners would have no problem seeing pistols banned.
Friends, ALL firearms advocates must “hang together” and realize that an assault on ANY means of firearms ownership and self-defense is an assault on ALL forms of firearms ownership and self-defense.
There is absolutely NO ROOM for complacency among ANY Second Amendment supporters. An attack on one is an attack on ALL…
ALL firearms laws are unconstitutional on their face. Imagine the hue and cry if “reasonable” restrictions were placed on First Amendment activities, especially with the “mainstream media”. The Second Amendment is clear–what part of “shall not be infringed” do politicians and the media not understand…of course, they understand full well…it’s part of their communist agenda…
substitute “socialist”….”communist” is a dated term and has about as much relevance as the left’s constant use of “racist’….
That “duck hunters don’t like black rifles” thing may have been relavent in the past but today, with just about anyone who’s anybody now owning owning an AR or clone, it’s a different ballgame. People now shoot varmints with ARs, most states allow deer hunting with them even in .223/5.56 with heavy bullets, and they’re often priced much lower than a quality bolt gun and optics. Ammo price and availability is another plus. If you believe that most hunters don’t like AR15s, you need to take another look around…
The “Heller decision” was a narrowly crafted opinion that left in place all of the present “infringements” on the Second Amendment. If Heller had been properly decided, ALL infringements on the Second Amendment from the 1934 National Firearms Act, the 1968 Gun Control Act, the “national instant check” system, the “no new machine gun for civilians” ban in 1986, the so-called “assault weapons ban in 1991, and all other present infringements on the Second Amendment would have been history. If Heller had been properly decided, the ATF would have been declared “null and void”, at least when it came to firearms. The Supreme Court did not rule properly on Heller, but left the door open for further infringements on the Second Amendment. Heller did forestall some further infringements, but still allows the states to further erode Second Amendment rights.
at the moment…but scalia seemed content with handing much of this discretion back to the states…which is why we now find ourselves in a patchwork of disparity on gun laws…up until some of these recent mass shootings the gun control movement seemed to be in retreat…it may take awhile to get back to that…by the way,..just how much of the ATF’s efforts are directed towards alcohol and tobacco…something that clearly should fall within the purview of the DEA…this means they are an agency in search of a mission…and have chosen to make “chasing guns” their primary focus…this is clearly an agency we can do without…and it should have happened after Waco..
“NRA members are not legion, and their views on gun control are increasingly out of touch with that of the median US voter.“
Good! The median is where mediocrity lives and losers thrive.
It’s misinformation…and it’s parroted endlessly in hopes of swaying those who are easily misled…making outlandish statements complete with made up stats seems to be their stock in trade these days….
“-its ratings of politicians on gun issues – and threats to take out anyone with less than an A rating – keeps Republicans firmly in line.”
Good, that’s exactly the way a representative republic is supposed to work. They should fear us, not the other way around. But, that concept is lost on anyone over at the Guardian.
it certainly seems to work for other groups like the gay rights crowd who are throwing around tons of cash and doing a good deal of “elbow twisting” to further their agenda….
As some others pointed out, a single NRA member often influences 2-4 other family members. No, not the HRC view that women’s votes are controlled by their hubbies / sons. Simply the reality that a family tends to share similar values. Everyone in the family might not love guns or actively use them on a regular basis, but they most likely see the value of the 2A and are not ignorant / scared of them.
The other point is the NRA demographic tends to also be very reliable voters. The progressive / left tend to whine and cry and signal their virtues in fits and spurts, but long term they tend to be lazy and forget to vote. Especially in off year elections / local elections.
Politics is a long game and the NRA, despite it many issues, is in for the duration. For this, I am thankful although I learned a long time ago not to give them my phone number. 🙂
The ONE and ONLY reason to allow the morons their unlimited pot.
there are other reasons…one is to deny the revenue to the cartels while increasing the revenue to the state(s)…this, of course has now increased the heroin traffic as they take advantage of the current opioid crises by offering it at ridiculously cheap prices in the hopes of retaining and increasing their clientele….
“And while it is today an effectively Republican-only organization,”
The NRA includes all races, genders, incomes, & political affiliations.
As an NRA Recruiter, I mention that to everyone I talk to that all political affiliations/ideologies are welcome to join the 6+ million of “America’s Oldest Civil Rights Organization”.
As an NRA recruiter, can you answer a question: why DON’T gun owners join? If there are 100 million gun owners in America, why is the NRA membership so tiny? We gotta resolve their concerns and get them signed up.
Each person has their own reasons for deciding what organization(s) they will/will not support.
It’d be best to ask them their reasoning.
Recently, the idea seems that not supporting actions proposed by leadership.
I’ve been an NRA Recruiter since about 1986 and I can tell you the reason most gun owners don’t join is because they, like the general US population are very uninformed as to exactly what the governmental agencies; local, state and federal are doing to us as they chip away at liberties and rights little-by-little. Most gun owners don’t have 300 guns- they own whatever it is that fulfills their particular use, plus perhaps some sort of handgun just because. As we’ve seen over the decades, when it appears the “man” is now looking at their particular firearm, they’ll join for a bit because they’re scared. (They’ll also run out and buy stuff they probably will never use during these times as well as discussed in another thread around here.) As a recruiter I try to sell prospects on the proposition that all individuals need to become involved in keeping, maintaining and improving their own rights and not to delegate it to anyone else. After all, those same various government agencies are all too happy to take our tax dollars and try to use them against us in attempting to take away our own God-given rights. If that in and of itself is not reason enough to both join NRA and contribute towards the causes of liberty, legal reform and electing and keeping officials who understand what the US Constitution stands for and says, nothing is. But of course, GOA and the NAGRs would never compromise- if they ever got the chance not to, that is. :-0
wonder how many of you watched that bill maher interview with noir….thought he totally intimidated maher as he eloquently argued for gun rights…of course it didn’t hurt that he was black…..
What gets me upset with the NRA is that they are pretty much a “Republican only” organization. I complained about this to a NRA area representative years telling him that in a three way race between a anti-gun democrat and an anti-gun republican that the NRA should endorse a pro-gun Libertarian Party candidate if he or she is running. That way, if nothing else the republican party will know that the gun vote is not automatically theirs which is what it is now. He conceded that I had made some good points but I got a non-committal answer on wither he would bring up the subject at the next committee meeting.
To NOTAROCKETSCIENTIST.
ANYONE can join the NRA. Cough up $10.
Oh come on. Bloomberg and his gun ban fronts and the rest of the gun ban lobby are 100% DEMOCRATS and outspend the NRA close to 20:1 all of it to the benefit of Democrat candidates and policies.
NRA is not top down like the gun ban lobby groups all are. How is it logical for you to say you don’t belong, and therefore don’t vote in any NRA election, but don’t like all of their positions?
The NRA is not “Republicans only” like everyone thinks. The NRA comprises of all political ideologies.
The real source of the NRA’s power is the 60 million American citizens that (knowingly or unknowingly) support the US Constitution and vote for liberty.
For the NRA to flourish and for its ranks to swell, there has to be a defined threat (like Hillary Clinton). Is Donald Trump the best thing or the worst thing to happen to the NRA?
“Is Donald Trump the best thing or the worst thing to happen to the NRA?”
Dunno about the NRA in particular, but gun rights as a whole have befitted massively by the appointment of the 2 justices that weren’t chosen by Hillary…
I would rather have Trump in the White House and a weaker NRA, than Clinton in the White House and a stronger NRA… I’m a gun guy, but there is way more to life and a country than just guns.
Yep.
Feel-good of the day – You know that young Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who won her election?
It seems she believes she would make a fine US President :
“Insurgent Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to take her budding political career all the way to The White House, her mother told The Post on Wednesday.
“Her aspiration is to be the president,” Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, 55, said at the candidate’s childhood home in the Bronx.
“She has been thinking about politics since she was a teenager. She would read historical and political books old and new. She would engage in political discussions passionately.””
Mark my words – The NY Times will be covering her extensively. She’s going to go with the Barack Obama “How to win in politics without even trying, or having any experience” playbook…
https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/ocasio-cortez-wants-to-be-president-mom-says/
It won’t work…
She is too light skinned and her name is quite literally “white.”
When people with hyphenated names marry people with hyphenated names, what name do their children use?
it resets to paternal line. the idea that spanish names are not sexist is wrong. the mother’s name drops in the next generation (ie maternal grandmother name is not carried) .
she’s big in her “bubble”….we’ll see how it resonates outside of that…
So, a party with a platform against guns, daemonizing the people who use them, is shocked to discover that these people mostly support the other party. That the other party tries to address these people’s needs and concerns. That this combination of people and party isn’t great for the anti-gun parties.
Indeed, the anti-gun folk and D-people, but I repeat myself, seem offended that having driven them off, pro-gun folks actually moved off. And that these irredeemable deplorables support their own interests.
🤣 The folks at the Guardian know about as much about the NRA as NRA members know about the Queen of England’s romantic life.
I was on the NRA Board for nearly a decade.
1. The NRA’s influence base is about 10 times it’s paid membership. It includes millions who “think” they are members such as lapsed members, members of gun clubs, spouses, etc. Additional millions of “free riders” such as siblings, cousins, shooters who read NRA magazines and posters during election time at shooting ranges, gun shop customers, and the universe of lurkers on pro-gun Boards and Pages.
2. NRA avoids direct campaign contributions to Candidates. Instead, it uses every form of “independent expenditure” available so it can control the message and the audience to maximize votes per dollar of expenditure. NRA is probably #1 at this political strategy. The Guardian has no idea of the amount or scope of those activities.
3. NRA backs candidates who ALREADY publicly share its positions. It is ISSUE oriented, not Partisan.
The candidate chooses to take positions on the issues. As the Democrat Party has veered to the Left and made being anti-gun a litmus test, fewer Democrat candidates are eligible for NRA support. Most Democrats do not even return their pre-election questionnaires because THEY do not want the endorsement. The CANDIDATE’S choice is reflected as the apparent Republican advantage.
The NRA does not “buy” politicians because, as any Poli Sci major knows, — once on the market, always for sale.
4. What counts is election success, not accolades from overseas political pundits. NRA is a FOCUSED single issue organization. The key is FOCUSED.
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