Romney shoots self in foot on gun issue
Mitt Romney is still trying to explain his hunting experience. From CNN:
Romney was trying to appeal to the GOP base, which is understandable, but there is nothing people hate more than a phoney. Romney probably enjoyed hunting mid-cap companies with undervalued assets a lot more than "small varmints."
People have different hobbies. Some people "scrapbook." Some people hunt. Some people play odd variations of tennis with funny, squishy balls instead of real tennis balls. None of this has any practical meaning as to how well someone might do as an elected official.
The NRA and the GOP had success in the past labelling Democrats as hostile to the hunting culture, which never was true.
If you believe in republicanism (note the small "r,") you understand that the needs of an intense urban environmnent like New York City might be very different from rural Montana. That's one of the great things about the federal system, if it's allowed to function properly.
There have always been Democrats who respected the right of sportsmen and women to enjoy their pursuit. Former Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, who represented Washington's 3rd Congressional District in the late 1980's and early 1990's comes to mind. It may play well inside the GOP to talk about this stuff, but most people have moved on.
There are those in the Democratic Party who favor gun control, often in the context of urban violence. Sensible, moderate proposals like closing gun show loopholes make sense. But in terms of the gun debate doing the GOP any good, Romney was too clever by half on this score.
And I'm dying to know: is a jackalope big game or a small varmint, and would it be best with hickory, apple or maybe just grilled straight-up? And what would the Easter Bunny think if I shot one and ate it?
NDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is taking a second shot at describing his hunting experience.It's all so silly, of course, kind of a last vestige of the days when the NRA actually mattered in American politics. But like so many right-wing institutions, they had to go too far.
The former Massachusetts governor has called himself a lifelong hunter, yet his campaign acknowledged that he has been on just two hunting trips -- one when he was 15 and the other just last year.
Campaigning in Indianapolis on Thursday, Romney said he has hunted small game since his youth.
"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."
Romney was trying to appeal to the GOP base, which is understandable, but there is nothing people hate more than a phoney. Romney probably enjoyed hunting mid-cap companies with undervalued assets a lot more than "small varmints."
People have different hobbies. Some people "scrapbook." Some people hunt. Some people play odd variations of tennis with funny, squishy balls instead of real tennis balls. None of this has any practical meaning as to how well someone might do as an elected official.
The NRA and the GOP had success in the past labelling Democrats as hostile to the hunting culture, which never was true.
If you believe in republicanism (note the small "r,") you understand that the needs of an intense urban environmnent like New York City might be very different from rural Montana. That's one of the great things about the federal system, if it's allowed to function properly.
There have always been Democrats who respected the right of sportsmen and women to enjoy their pursuit. Former Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, who represented Washington's 3rd Congressional District in the late 1980's and early 1990's comes to mind. It may play well inside the GOP to talk about this stuff, but most people have moved on.
There are those in the Democratic Party who favor gun control, often in the context of urban violence. Sensible, moderate proposals like closing gun show loopholes make sense. But in terms of the gun debate doing the GOP any good, Romney was too clever by half on this score.
And I'm dying to know: is a jackalope big game or a small varmint, and would it be best with hickory, apple or maybe just grilled straight-up? And what would the Easter Bunny think if I shot one and ate it?
