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Gun control becomes a litmus test in Democratic primaries
In Ohio, Nevada, Florida, and elsewhere, Democrats who were once cozy with the NRA are facing questions and attacks in primaries.
Liberals across the country are challenging fellow Democrats on guns in primaries, opening up divisions within the party on one of the most volatile issues of 2016.
In the Ohio Senate primary, a young city councilman is attacking former Gov. Ted Strickland, a popular Democrat who once touted National Rifle Association support. In the Las Vegas suburbs, four Democrats are racing to see who is more anti-gun, including one candidate who renounced his NRA membership. In central Florida — a pro-gun area — a rising star in the Democratic Party is under scrutiny for votes like one that prevented companies from banning guns from their parking lots.
The new wave of attention to this issue from the left, which has watched closely as Hillary Clinton embraced gun control from the bully pulpit of a presidential campaign, signals a strategic shift for Democrats in some parts of the country. The party once let its moderate members off the hook on gun-related votes, understanding that Democrats from swing districts needed to hew closer to the NRA’s positions in order to survive politically.
- Snip -
While Democratic voters are virtually all-in supporting stricter gun laws — 76 percent back such legislation, the latest CBS/New York Times poll found — candidates like Strickland built their records when the issue was less of a litmus test in the party. Now, with gun violence at the front of Democrats’ minds, old votes and positions are coming back to haunt candidates with records that once fit loosely within the Democratic Party.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/gun-control-democratic-primaries-nra-216764
In the Ohio Senate primary, a young city councilman is attacking former Gov. Ted Strickland, a popular Democrat who once touted National Rifle Association support. In the Las Vegas suburbs, four Democrats are racing to see who is more anti-gun, including one candidate who renounced his NRA membership. In central Florida — a pro-gun area — a rising star in the Democratic Party is under scrutiny for votes like one that prevented companies from banning guns from their parking lots.
The new wave of attention to this issue from the left, which has watched closely as Hillary Clinton embraced gun control from the bully pulpit of a presidential campaign, signals a strategic shift for Democrats in some parts of the country. The party once let its moderate members off the hook on gun-related votes, understanding that Democrats from swing districts needed to hew closer to the NRA’s positions in order to survive politically.
- Snip -
While Democratic voters are virtually all-in supporting stricter gun laws — 76 percent back such legislation, the latest CBS/New York Times poll found — candidates like Strickland built their records when the issue was less of a litmus test in the party. Now, with gun violence at the front of Democrats’ minds, old votes and positions are coming back to haunt candidates with records that once fit loosely within the Democratic Party.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/gun-control-democratic-primaries-nra-216764
The tide has already turned, and Democrats are no longer afraid of the NRA/ILA/GOA and their right-wing gun-humping members. Vote for Democrats at all levels of government who will support gun control legislation and put a stop to the easy access to guns that fuels the gun violence epidemic in this country.