Be vewy, vewy quiet…; Romney changes hunting story (again)

April 5, 2007 – 9:36 pm

Mitt Romney, changed his story on hunting … again. Here’s where he started:

Mitt Romney said he had hunted "pretty much all his life." Then the press asked his staff to confirm … and he had hunted only twice (and once at a fundraiser no less!).

Now Romney has clarified. He hunts "varmints":

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said during a fundraising stop Thursday that he had also hunted smaller animals in Utah.

"I’m not a big-game hunter. I’ve made that very clear," he said. "I’ve always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so, and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."

Three times? Wabbits? Not mousetraps?

As I said when his hunting problem emerged, it reminds me of his gun problem. He couldn’t figure out whether he owned a gun or not:

So Romney went from having a gun, to not having a gun, to having two guns. Except they are his son’s guns. At (one of) their vacation homes in Utah. That’s "his" gun.

The issue is, of course, not really about whether he has hunted or has a gun or not. The issue is that he has so many stories about basic facts like whether he has hunted, whether he owns a gun, or what his favorite movie is. These shouldn’t be hard. These don’t even need to be poll-tested. He can’t figure out an answer to these questions… And he wants to run a country?

Tags: , ,

By eye | Comments (8)

Fred Thompson, guns, and interest groups

April 5, 2007 – 6:45 am

Jim Geraghty has a great article over at NY Sun Politics about Fred Thompson. There is lots of talk about filling the conservative void, but I think that the more interesting discussion is about gun owners, the NRA, and interest groups:

One powerful organization that may breathe easier at news of a Thompson bid is the National Rifle Association. Each of the "big three" Republican presidential frontrunners has a glaring flaw in the eyes of the organization, although the group has not sought to emphasize its disagreements with the trio.

…

By comparison, Mr. Thompson’s relationship with gun-rights groups is sterling. A 2000 report from a campaign-finance watchdog group, Common Cause, found that the NRA, Gun Owners of America, and the Georgia Gun Owners PAC donated $188,954 to Mr. Thompson between 1993 and 1999; the groups donated more only to Dr. Frist. ( Mr. Thompson was elected in a special election in 1994.)

I have argued in the past that gun owners are a particularly important part of the GOP coalition, especially in New Hampshire. While I still have a lot of questions about a Fred Thompson candidacy — starting with: do people know what they would be buying? — I think that this article makes an excellent point.

An interesting exercise would be to go through the main interest groups and see what they are saying about the candidates, including Fred Thompson. Ultimately, I suspect that it would take some kind of unanimity on the behalf of the groups to really make his candidacy viable. George Allen was on his way to being anointed by the DC-based interest groups. Something similar may be necessary here.

Tags: ,

By eye | Comments (0)

Romney on guns: More Mitt-representations

April 4, 2007 – 3:40 pm

Mitt Romney has a problem with gun owners, and it is that he is like John Kerry.

John Kerry referred to his "trusty shotgun", which was actually a weapon he had voted to ban. This was seen as fabricated, and it was rightly mocked in the righty blogs.

Mitt Romney has a similar problem, his image on guns is a total Mitt-representation. He told Glenn and Helen (via the Boston Globe):

The Glenn and Helen Show," that he hopes states would continue to ease regulations on gun owners, and he expressed enthusiasm for guns and hunting. "I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. I’m a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms

Slowly those statements have been exploded. First, he didn’t really own a gun, from the same Boston Globe story:

Asked by reporters at the gun show Friday whether he personally owned the gun, Romney said he did not. He said one of his sons, Josh, keeps two guns at the family vacation home in Utah, and he uses them "from time to time."

So Romney went from having a gun, to not having a gun, to having two guns. Except they are his son’s. At (one of) their vacation homes in Utah. That’s "his" gun.

Next the point about hunting. Romney "fondly" describes two hunting experiences:

Romney also described himself as a sportsman who learned to shoot as a boy rabbit hunting in Idaho with a .22 rifle. … He fondly recalled shooting quail last year at a Republican Governors Association event in Georgia.

Now the AP reports that those are the only two hunting experiences he has had in his whole life:

Yet the former Massachusetts governor’s hunting experience is limited to two trips at the bookends of his 60 years: as a 15-year-old, when he hunted rabbits with his cousins on a ranch in Idaho, and last year, when he shot quail on a fenced game preserve in Georgia.

Then the NRA thing came out. Turns out Romney is a life member of the NRA… except that he joined in August. This was well lampooned today in Doonesbury:


And he says that he "firmly believes in the right to bear arms… sort of, again the Boston Globe story:

Romney says he still backs the ban on assault weapons, but he won’t say whether he stands by the Brady Bill. And after the gun show tour, his campaign declined to say whether he would still describe himself as a supporter of tough gun laws.

You see, Mitt Romney’s problem isn’t that he is a flip-flopper, although that is true. It is that almost everything that he says about base issues in the Republican Party is a Mitt-representation. And gun activists, a pretty committed bunch, just aren’t going to buy it.

Tags: , , ,

By eye | Comments (7)

New Hampshire is weird: The importance of guns

March 21, 2007 – 2:05 pm

In some ways, each state in the early process of the Presidential nominations captures something about the GOP electorate. I have noted that Iowa tends to emphasize religious conservatives. In New Hampshire, the "Live Free or Die" state, it is much more libertarian focusing on issues like guns and, to some extent, taxes. But the tax guys are focused on local elections, so the only real force in New Hampshire focused on the national ballot is the gun guys.

Nearly every Republican in New Hampshire owns a gun. Everyone hunts. In some meaningful sense, New Hampshire Republican primary voters protect the rights of gun owners in the Republican coalition.

Why does this matter? Well, I was reminded of this when I saw a letter to the editor in the Gilford Steamer by Steve Hodges, a former Sheriff and New Hampshire Fish and Game Commissioner. He trashes Rudy Giuliani and, to a lesser extent, Mitt Romney and endorses John McCain on the gun issue:

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani readily admits he favors strong regulations on gun ownership, but he isn’t as quick to disclose the full story of his attempts to undermine the Second Amendment. Giuliani pushed for a national system of gun registration and licensing and was expressly supportive of the licensing for both handgun and rifle owners. In the past he has expressed support for the quadrupling of ammunition taxes and as mayor of New York City he sued gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers for millions in damages.

Giuliani was also behind a national law that would have imposed uniform tests on guns owners. In the past he urged measures that would require citizens to pass written tests, as well as physical tests, in order to own a gun. Even further, his plan would have forced every sportsman and gun collector to "demonstrate good moral character and a reason to have the gun."

While it is clear that Rudy Giuliani is not pro-gun owners, it is unclear where former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney honestly stands on the Second Amendment.

Now the point here is not to trash Rudy. Rudy’s candidacy is about transcending these issues in some meaningful sense and focusing on 9-11 and his governance of New York City. His website has a list of statements by New Hampshire activists and electeds, and they are things like:

Former State Representative Paul Mirski: "I’d be classified as a social conservative, pro-gun, anti-abortion, all of that, but Giuliani gave a great speech … I think the Republicans, including me, could probably follow him and support him for the presidency." (Philip Klein, "The Candidate," The American Spectator Online, 1/29/07)

Whether this continues when his stances on issues comes out is unclear. A recent Michigan poll suggested that Newt and Mitt are getting support from people that really like them but few others, while Rudy and McCain are getting support from people who understand that they are not perfect. There is plenty of time to change these dynamics, but only time will tell.

Tags: , , ,

By eye | Comments (1)