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Why Republicans defy public opinion in gun-control fight

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 09:54
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Monday, January 21, 2013 8:17 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


For any who don't already know...
Quote:

To the surprise of precisely no one within the Beltway, the Senate's top Republican on Saturday told people across his home state of Kentucky that – if he has his way – President Obama's gun-control proposals won't go anywhere.

In a taped phone call sent to Kentucky gun owners, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) said: “Know that I will be doing everything in my power as Senate Republican leader, fighting tooth and nail, to protect your Second Amendment rights, so that law-abiding citizens such as yourself can properly and adequately protect yourself, your family, and your country.”

National public opinion polls show majority support for all three measures. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 85 percent support for background checks, 55 percent support a ban on assault weapons, and 54 percent support a ban on high-capacity magazines.

Perhaps surprisingly, these numbers hold even in red states. A Georgia poll by Atlanta TV station WXIA, for example, mirrored the Pew poll almost exactly.

But don't expect a backlash against Senator McConnell if he blocks Obama's plans. After all, those aren't the numbers that he will be looking at.


He will note that only 44 percent of Republicans back a ban on assault weapons, and Republicans similarly line up against the magazine ban. He will also note that, among those who say protecting gun rights is more important than controlling guns, nearly one-quarter have contributed to a gun-rights group. Among those who think gun control is more important, only 5 percent have contributed to gun-control groups.

In other words, the gun-rights folks are far more engaged. And that will matter tremendously to McConnell, in particular.

He faces reelection in 2014. Turnout is generally low in a midterm cycle, meaning McConnell will want to woo the most engaged voters – and gun-rights supporters fit that bill. Moreover, in red-state Kentucky, McConnell likely has more to fear from a right-wing challenger in the Republican primary than from a Democrat in the general election.

That's why he'll tack to the right – as moderate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) is doing in South Carolina.

Indeed, the savvy senator's robocall flirted with the deep fears that drive gun owners – that Obama's laws are a only a first step toward gutting the Second Amendment and taking away Americans' guns – to stoke their motivation.

“President Obama and his team are doing everything in their power to restrict your constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” McConnell said in the call. “Their efforts to restrict your rights, invading your personal privacy and overstepping their bounds with executive orders, is just plain wrong.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, the call came on the same day as a Guns Across America rally in state capitals.

McConnell's efforts recall those of George W. Bush's 2004 campaign, which used gay marriage as a "wedge issue."

By compelling states to put gay-marriage initiatives on the ballot, the campaign succeeded in wooing more conservatives to the polls – who, of course, mostly voted for Mr. Bush. Gun control could work the same way in 2014.

Polls show that even Republicans strongly favor a provision for background checks on all weapons purchases. (Currently, there is no mandate for background checks on private sales.)

That, congressional sources have said, is the most likely point of compromise for gun control on Capitol Hill. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/0120/Why-Rep
ublicans-defy-public-opinion-in-gun-control-fight-video?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem


And there it is in a nutshell. "SCREW the American people and what they want, I wanna keep my seat!"

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Monday, January 21, 2013 9:59 AM

HKCAVALIER


Hey Niki,

Um. So, basically, you're saying McConnell is going to oppose gun legislation because his constituency would vote him out of office if he didn't? Um. That's kinda sorta his job then, right?

I'm not saying he's a good person or that his opposition is a principled stand, just saying if the answer to the question "Why Republicans defy public opinion in gun-control fight" is "their most engaged supporters want them to" then it isn't really news and isn't, in the grand scheme of things, all that terribly perfidious. Right?

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Monday, January 21, 2013 1:24 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Cav, you're forgetting that the Republicans, in a very smart move, gerrymandered the districts so that they gave their legislators SAFE SEATS--at least until the next census and if Dems are in power then (which problem REALLY needs to be changed!).

In other words, Republicans will ALWAYS hold those seats, barring something unimaginable. So Democrats and Independents in those areas, by virtue of how they were redistricted, have no say and their votes don't count. The whole thing is a rigged game; the sad part is they've killed any opportunity for a thinking Republican to vote his conscience. He has no fear of what anyone in his district wants, only those who might choose someone even more conservative than him if he votes his conscience or what he KNOWS to be sensible.

You really think that's the way it's supposed to work? Think about it for a minute: ALL the polls show that the American people, by a large majority, want gun restrictions. Then why is it that enough of the House are against it that it can't even be brought up for a vote? Because, irregardless of how the POPULATION is split, enough districts were drawn so that Republicans have more power.

You can say "that's what the majority in his district wants", but districts aren't supposed to be chosen to weigh in only one party's direction; they are supposed to be just a way of dividing up the state, you know, so that both parties have to COMPETE for the legislative seat. That's not how it is in many states currently; the Republicans were VERY savvy in gerrymandering districts this time around, and nothing can be done about it.

Tit for tat got us where we are today. If we want to be grownups, we need to resist the ugliness. If we each did, this would be a better reflection on Firefly and a more welcome place. I will try.

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Monday, January 21, 2013 6:12 PM

HKCAVALIER


Hey Niki,

I'd be more than happy to read a thread about gerrymandering. What you got here is "How dare Mitch McConnell obey his constituency?" It's wingnut bait is all, 'cause it doesn't get at the real problem and makes you look more partisan than you are.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 4:20 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


Quote:

Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Hey Niki,

I'd be more than happy to read a thread about gerrymandering. What you got here is "How dare Mitch McConnell obey his constituency?" It's wingnut bait is all, 'cause it doesn't get at the real problem and makes you look more partisan than you are.



Not much I can find searching 'Kentucky gerrymandering', and most discuss the compromise between the Democratic House and Republican Senate, like this one.
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/19/2034136/compromises-on-congressiona
l-redistricting.html


ETA: Here's a map of Kentucky's congressional distiricts.



If you really want to see an example, try searching 'Maryland gerrymandering'. The Democratic Governor and Democratic General Assembly ended up with a congressional district map that looks like a Jackson Pollock.




"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 4:31 AM

JONGSSTRAW


Harry Reid will never bring any gun control measures up for a vote in the Senate because he doesn't have the votes to pass anything. Too many, perhaps twenty or more, Democrats would vote against them for their own political survival self-interests.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 8:11 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Quote:

What you got here is "How dare Mitch McConnell obey his constituency?"

I'm definitely not saying that; if his "constituency" were fairly decided, that couldn't be said: Can you explain why, if every poll shows Americans (including goodly margins of NRA members AND gun owners) are for some gun restrictions, why ELSE would so many Republicans be taking the opposite stance?

It's the uneven gerrymandering that I blame for this situation, not Mitch McConnel or any other individual congressman.

And as a caveat; I know full well that gerrymandering has been done by both sides at different times. It's something I'm very much against and would like to see changed.
Quote:

I'd be more than happy to read a thread about gerrymandering.

Will work on it.

Tit for tat got us where we are today. If we want to be grownups, we need to resist the ugliness. If we each did, this would be a better reflection on Firefly and a more welcome place. I will try.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 9:02 AM

FIVVER


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
Quote:

What you got here is "How dare Mitch McConnell obey his constituency?"

I'm definitely not saying that; if his "constituency" were fairly decided, that couldn't be said: Can you explain why, if every poll shows Americans (including goodly margins of NRA members AND gun owners) are for some gun restrictions, why ELSE would so many Republicans be taking the opposite stance?

It's the uneven gerrymandering that I blame for this situation, not Mitch McConnel or any other individual congressman.

And as a caveat; I know full well that gerrymandering has been done by both sides at different times. It's something I'm very much against and would like to see changed.
Quote:

I'd be more than happy to read a thread about gerrymandering.

Will work on it.

Tit for tat got us where we are today. If we want to be grownups, we need to resist the ugliness. If we each did, this would be a better reflection on Firefly and a more welcome place. I will try.



You really are clueless aren't you Niki. Mitch McConnell is a SENATOR who is elected by the whole state. There is no gerrymandering involved. Oh, and please quit your bitching about the evil Republicans and their gerrymandering. Last time the Gimmiecrats had control here in Georgia they created a district that ran from Macon to Savannah. That's a district 165 miles long and the width of I16.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 9:20 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Hey Niki,

Um. So, basically, you're saying McConnell is going to oppose gun legislation because his constituency would vote him out of office if he didn't? Um. That's kinda sorta his job then, right?

I'm not saying he's a good person or that his opposition is a principled stand, just saying if the answer to the question "Why Republicans defy public opinion in gun-control fight" is "their most engaged supporters want them to" then it isn't really news and isn't, in the grand scheme of things, all that terribly perfidious. Right?

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.



Pretty much HK....

Although I'm a supporter of gay rights, at least the right of the State to validate a Union for tax purposes, that doesn't make me a friend in Niki's book.

Remember, when discussing issues with Niki, you have to be on the "Majority" side, which, according to her 5 page articles she posts, is always whatever side she posts about.



Niki wants a full-blown "Democracy", yanno, the type which signaled the fall of Rome. No electoral votes. Let's let Chicago and New York and Miami and L.A. decide the fate of the country, simply because that's where most of the people are....

We already do it state to state. Geographically speaking, Illinois is at least 9/10ths republican. Those are the people with little to no government benefits paying for their votes.

Per capita, 9/10ths are located in Chicago or the suburbs. They all vote democratic because they got a free wheel of cheese or a carton of smokes to vote.....

Ironically, they're in the demographic and area most likely to own an illegal handgun.....


Discuss.....


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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 9:54 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Fivver, you're correct. My apologies. McConnell is definitely representing the constituents who elected him.

As to gerrymandering, I believe I said clearly that both parties do it and it's wrong in both case. My problem is with how the Republicans did it in 2010, with both congressional redistricting and focusing on state legislatures and governorships. They did the best nationwide job of it that I've ever seen.

Your post makes pretty clear where you stand; I'm assuming you have no problem with Republican gerrymandering, only with that done by the Democrats.

Tit for tat got us where we are today. If we want to be grownups, we need to resist the ugliness. If we each did, this would be a better reflection on Firefly and a more welcome place. I will try.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

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