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NRA Now Leans Toward Endorsing Harry Reid


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Redstate:

Posted by Erick Erickson
Thursday, July 1st at 8:00AM EDT

Multiple sources tell me the National Rifle Association is planning to endorse liberal Harry Reid against pro-gun champion Sharron Angle.

Two weeks ago, I told you about the carveout the NRA received in exchange for their support for the DISCLOSE ACT deal.

Then this week, RedState broke the story of the “gag order” the NRA issued to members of its Board on the Kagan nomination.

Now, I’m getting credible reports that the NRA is leaning toward endorsing Harry Reid, even though the NRA is finally saying it will score a vote on Kagan — something that was not a sure thing.

Why would they do this? Why would they go out of their way to protect a Senator who has demonstrated a repeated hostility to the Second Amendment in his votes and his leadership?

Well, I thought perhaps the NRA carveout in the DISCLOSE Act might be the answer. But, there is more. It turns out, Reid secured a $61 million earmark for a gun range in Clark County, Nevada.

NRA members were recently treated to a three-page spread in the American Rifleman about a visit to Nevada by Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox to “thank” Reid for the earmark. The article even includes a cliché picture of Reid cutting a ribbon with a gigantic pair of scissors. (Every good porker has his own giant pair of gold earmark scissors.) More here.

Here is a video of the event from Reid’s youtube site.

At 3:25, you can hear LaPierre touting Reid’s record on guns saying, “I also want to thank you, Senator, for your support every day for the Second Amendment and for the rights of American gun owners. “

The American Rifleman article also commends Reid’s Second Amendment record noting, “His dedication to this project is just one of the ways Sen. Reid has demonstrated his support for gun owners and the Second Amendment.”

Well, that’s all very nice. What politician representing a pro-gun red state wouldn’t want Wayne LaPierre to come out for a personal photo op at their earmark ribbon cutting.

But, here is the problem. Reid has not supported the Second Amendment “every day.” Or ever.

Reid has a lifetime rating of “F” from Gun Owners of America (who Ron Paul once called “the only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington”). GOA is actively supporting the 100% pro-gun Republican nominee, Sharron Angle, in her campaign to unseat Harry Reid.

But if you don’t believe GOA, see for yourself below the fold. Then call (800) 392-VOTE (8683) before it is too late and make the NRA knows they’d be betraying second amendment voters by endorsing Harry Reid.

Below are just a few of the votes that demonstrate Reid’s longstanding hostility to guns and the Second Amendment. Not included in this list is the long list of consistent and active support for anti-gun nominees to the Federal Judiciary and to high level cabinet posts. The reason I did not include anti-gun nominees is because he supported every last one of them.
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He goes on to list all of the votes Reid that he voted against gun laws at the site.
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If they do this, it will be the end of the NRA.

 

I understand politics...but there are some lines you just don't cross.

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If they do this, it will be the end of the NRA.

 

I understand politics...but there are some lines you just don't cross.

 

Amen, Valin.

 

However, I have some reservations as to the accuracy of the assertion that the NRA is going to endorse Reid, especially since they came out today and said that they would fight Kagan's confirmation.

 

We shall see.

 

I would really like to see what a $61 million gun range looks like, though.

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Shock spread throughout the Twitterverse yesterday over the suggestion that the National Rifle Association could endorse Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid for Senate. But it turns out that, should the gun lobby endorse the Senate majority leader over his GOP opponent, tea party candidate Sharron Angle, it wouldn't really be much of a shock.

 

After all, the NRA endorsed Reid the last time he was up for re-election, in 2004. "NRA members deeply appreciate your defense of their rights to keep and bear arms," the NRA Political Victory Fund announced in its Dec. 2003 endorsement, according to an Associated Press report.

 

Indeed, the NRA has publicly encouraged its supporters to rally around Reid on many occasions — in part because he's a stalwart proponent of gun rights but also because he's an enormously influential ally for the gun lobby to have in its corner. The NRA sent this letter to its Nevada members in July 2009 asking them to contact Reid's office to personally thank him for his opposition to the assault-weapons ban. "His opposition to gun bans has been consistent during his tenure in office," the letter reads, according to the document posted on the Las Vegas Sun website. "For many years now, Harry Reid has been supporting our Second Amendment rights in the U.S. Senate."

 

The lobby also lets its approval of the majority leader be known through its pocketbook. In this cycle alone, the NRA has already donated $4,000 to Reid, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

 

When Yahoo! News checked with NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam about the group's affinity for Reid, he declined comment beyond noting that the group hadn't yet weighed into the Nevada Senate race with an endorsement. Generally, he said, the gun lobby doesn't endorse in general-election races until around September.

 

Right-leaning critics of both the NRA and Reid have made much of the gun lobby's conspicuous exemption from the pending campaign finance bill known as the Disclose Act. Democrats carved out the NRA exemption, and since Reid is majority leader, some accused him of trading the carve-out for an NRA endorsement. Reid's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Reid and the gun lobby do differ on one policy question, though: The NRA announced today that the organization opposes the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, and Reid will certainly be among the Senate Democrats voting for her confirmation.

— Rachel Rose Hartman is a politics writer for Yahoo! News.

 

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pollyannaish

This year, you can't make deals with the Devil, even when they have a history of being narrowly on your side.

 

I believe their best strategy this year is to not endorse either candidate. AND this would be enough for me to withdraw my support of the NRA.

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