"I AM A GAY AMERICAN"
Posted on 08/13/2004 8:23:00 PM PDT by neverdem
Knight Ridder Newspapers
FORT MADISON, Iowa - As John Kerry worked the rope line by a riverside war memorial in this small Mississippi River town, men and women thrust copies of the same 8x10 glossy into his hands. Dutifully, he scrawled his name with a Sharpie pen. Once, twice, three times. They kept coming.
The photo wasn't the usual politician's pose. Taken last October at an Iowa farm, it showed Kerry in full hunting regalia with a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands. Among those clutching the pictures were Iowa prison guards, many of them wearing union T-shirts.
America's political debate over guns is different this year.
Four years ago, Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley argued the merits of licensing or registering gun owners and weapons, a debate that branded Gore as anti-gun.
Now, Kerry leads Democrats in championing gun rights in a bid to reach swing-voting hunters. Worried that a weak foothold with the so-called hook-and-bullet crowd could cost them the election, Democrats have locked and loaded and changed their tune, their image, even their party platform.
As Kerry toured battleground states in recent days, time and again he told audiences that he's an outdoorsman who embraces the Second Amendment, the constitutional right to bear arms.
"You know I'm a hunter and a fisherman," he said in Smithville, Mo. "I've been a hunter since I was about 12 years old. I'm a gun owner; I believe in the Second Amendment. I know it matters out here in parts of the world."
Those parts of the world tend to be where the election will be decided. About 7.2 million hunters live in battleground states, with the highest numbers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio.
Kerry's target is white male swing voters who live in union households or small towns and who in the past have mistrusted Democrats on guns but may now mistrust President Bush on the economy and jobs.
"Kerry has moved to the center (on guns), and it enables Kerry to neutralize a problem that hurt Gore," said Casey Anderson, the executive director of Americans for Gun Safety.
The Kerry camp's strategy is comprehensive and calculated.
It includes putting Kerry's undeniable outdoor skills on full media display. No bird hunt, no trap shoot goes unrecorded by cameras and reporters. In last fall's pheasant hunt in Iowa, he shot two birds with two shots. Last month in Wisconsin, he nailed 17 out of 25 clay pigeons at the Gunslick Trap Club.
The effort also involves reaching out to labor in particular. The hunting photograph that found its way into the hands of the unionized corrections officers in Iowa got there thanks to Michael Malaise, Kerry's Iowa director.
"I'm passing them around at every union hall I can find," he said.
That day in Iowa, the tactic seemed to be having some effect.
"He knows people want to go out and hunt," said Raleigh Helmick, who works at the Iowa State Penitentiary. "But I can't believe that our forefathers, when they sat down and decided you have the right to bear arms, had in the back of their minds that somebody would have a weapon like an Uzi or an M-16, M-14. They didn't have a clue."
The attention to gun owners is part of a broader effort by Kerry and the Democrats to reach out to undecided and independent voters - a primary focus of his current coast-to-coast trek.
For the first time, the Democratic Party platform endorses a right to own firearms. Terms such as "gun control" have been jettisoned in favor of "gun safety," and the major gun item on the legislative agenda is to renew a 10-year-old ban on assault weapons, not to impose new restrictions on gun purchases or ownership.
"Democrats understand that in many places `gun control' means `steady aim,'" said Sen. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat and gun owner who'd urged the party to moderate its stance on guns. "But even with a good-ole-boy hunter, there's a wife and a couple of kids who say, `It's OK for you to hunt, but let's keep the guns locked up and safe.'"
Both Bush and Kerry support extending the assault weapons ban, which expires Sept. 13. But the National Rifle Association doesn't, and so far efforts to pass an extension have failed. Advocates of the ban say Bush could have done more but has paid only lip service to the issue.
Kerry interrupted his campaign in March to return to the Senate to speak and vote on legislation that would have extended the ban, required background checks at gun shows and provided immunity from lawsuits to gun manufacturers. But the NRA, a staunch backer of the immunity provision, withdrew its support when the assault weapons and gun-show provisions were added, and bipartisan backing for the bill collapsed.
Now, as he campaigns in hunting states, Kerry limits his discussion of guns to asserting support for the Second Amendment.
"I would like to see him push a little bit harder," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat who became a leading gun-control advocate after her husband was shot and killed, and her son injured, in a commuter train rampage in 1993. "I'd like him to speak up."
Instead, after citing his hunting and fishing credentials in rural areas and small towns, Kerry sidesteps gun legislation and moves on to the environment, arguing that clean water and unspoiled wildlife habitats are points of common ground between sportsmen and the Democratic Party.
That kind of careful formulation hasn't saved him from attack by the NRA, which has given him a grade of an "F," launched TV ads against him and portrayed him as another anti-gun liberal in camouflage clothing.
In one ad, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre declares: "You're not fooling American gun owners. They know your voting record is just as bad as Ted Kennedy's. In fact, you've been voting against gun owners for 20 years, all the time, every time."
LaPierre and NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox have been guests at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke to the NRA's annual meeting last April. He laid out a bill of particulars against Kerry, including Kerry's votes to ban certain types of ammunition, to require five-day or two-week waiting periods for the purchase of a handgun and to allow surprise inspections of gun dealers.
"John Kerry's approach to the Second Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and then regulate some more," Cheney said.
But advocates of the new Democratic Party approach say Kerry, a Vietnam combat veteran and a cocksure outdoorsman, is the right symbol for the party's makeover as the gun owners' friend.
"If John Kerry was not an active sportsman, the other side would portray him as another Massachusetts liberal who wants to take guns out of your hands," said Breaux. "He has taken that weapon out of the hands of his opponents."
We need that pic for this thread. Would you, please?
"I've been lookin' for votes in all the wrong places....."
Yea, big time hunter now? (sarcasm)
Kerry will pay for a cage hunt just for the photo op. Of course he'll miss.
"I AM A GAY AMERICAN"
They will fool a few idiots with this BS, but not many, (I hope).
HaHa..next thing you will tell me is that kerry is looking for votes from pro-life voters..
Out deer hunting again?
What a funny, funny headline!
This guy refuses to defend his record.
LOL
Kerry is a Vietnam combat veteran??
I was at a duck blind drawing here in Illinois two weeks ago. It was comforting to be around so many supporters of our President. Bush/Cheney stickers everywhere. There is no way this dork is getting any kind of significant outdoor vote. Kerrys undeniable outdoor skills my ass. Cant wait till November so we can send this loser back to Nantuket.
If he is such a rabid supporter of hunters, why did he vote to ban ammunition for the hunters?
Did the leopard change its spots?
I don't think so...
Heck he might as well have, seeing how he denied ammo for our troops.
....Yyeeeaaaghghhgh
I must exercise self-control. I must exercise self-control. I must exercise self-control. I must exercise self-control. I must exercise self-control. I must exercise self-control.
Folks, we got to counter this. While the gun activists aren't going to vote for Kerry, that's now who he is after. He's after the hunter who is pro-2a, but isn't as informed and could be fooled. We have to let them know that Kerry is WORSE than Gore. The NRA poll cited has Kerry's support among gunowners at 42%. That sucks for US. Gore had 40%.
"Kerry has moved to the center (on guns), and it enables Kerry to neutralize a problem that hurt Gore," said Casey Anderson, the executive director of Americans for Gun Safety.
He moved to the center? Bullshit! His TALK has but his ACTIONS make Gore look like Wyatt Earp. I'm not so sure Gore, or even Klinton would have banned .30-30 ammo. Kerry on the other hand VOTED FOR IT....THIS YEAR. Why TF hasn't this been crowed upon OVER AND OVER except from a few of us. The NRA has mentioned it as a centerfire ammo ban, which is good, but it was mentioned as an also ran and is too technical of a term. .30-30 = The 2nd rifle I've ever fired. The .30-30 = Uncle's lever action. Anyone who hunts get's those terms. They go right to the heart.
In last fall's pheasant hunt in Iowa, he shot two birds with two shots.
Was that some BS canned hunt with tame birds?
Last month in Wisconsin, he nailed 17 out of 25 clay pigeons at the Gunslick Trap Club.
Big deal. I suck and I've come close to that, and with a Mossberg pump.
The effort also involves reaching out to labor in particular. The hunting photograph that found its way into the hands of the unionized corrections officers in Iowa got there thanks to Michael Malaise, Kerry's Iowa director.
THIS is what we got to counter.
"He knows people want to go out and hunt," said Raleigh Helmick, who works at the Iowa State Penitentiary. "But I can't believe that our forefathers, when they sat down and decided you have the right to bear arms, had in the back of their minds that somebody would have a weapon like an Uzi or an M-16, M-14. They didn't have a clue."
This is a flat out professional talking point - which can be countered with the .30-30 ban.
For the first time, the Democratic Party platform endorses a right to own firearms.
So what. A majority of dems - 33 - in the Senate voted to ban the .30-30 despite Dasshole of all people voting against the ban. That won't change. Akaka, Byrd, Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Cantwell, Carper, Lincoln Chafee(RINO), Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Dodd, Durbin, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham, Harkin, Hollings, Inouye, Kennedy, JOHN KERRY, Kohl, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Nelson, Reed, Rockefeller, Sabranes, Schumer, Stabenow, and Wyden all voted to ban the .30-30. Tim Johnson and John Edwards had more important things to do than to vote on that bill, so it's possibly 35 Dems(and Chafee) against us. The platform change is simply trying to remove the stink from what bears do in the woods, and it's not doing a good job.
Terms such as "gun control" have been jettisoned in favor of "gun safety,"
Same ole song and dance. If it's not "The Rules", it's not gun safety, and I will point this out every #%!@ing time those jerks try and take away OUR term.
and the major gun item on the legislative agenda is to renew a 10-year-old ban on assault weapons, not to impose new restrictions on gun purchases or ownership.
If the restriction is gone and brought back, it's a NEW RESTRICTION. And AGAIN, we have the .30-30 ban that Kennedy got up for a VOTE!!! So STFU.
"Democrats understand that in many places `gun control' means `steady aim,'" said Sen. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat and gun owner who'd urged the party to moderate its stance on guns.
Breaux sold out with his gun show vote in 99.
Both Bush and Kerry support extending the assault weapons ban, which expires Sept. 13.
Both suck on that policy. Bush is lucky that I absolutely despise the boy(he's not a man) he's running against.
Advocates of the ban say Bush could have done more but has paid only lip service to the issue.
No he can't. He can't because he remembers 92 and 96 when the NRA refused to endorse the Republican - because of gun bans.
Kerry interrupted his campaign in March to return to the Senate to speak and vote on legislation that would have extended the ban, required background checks at gun shows and provided immunity from lawsuits to gun manufacturers.
AND VOTE TO BAN .30-30 AMMO!!!!
Now, as he campaigns in hunting states, Kerry limits his discussion of guns to asserting support for the Second Amendment.
You don't support it Johnny. You don't. You say you do, but you are a damn liar since your voting record sucks.
"I would like to see him push a little bit harder," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy
Good cop, bad cop.
arguing that clean water and unspoiled wildlife habitats are points of common ground between sportsmen and the Democratic Party.
Unspoiled by HUNTERS. The dems in their concrete jungles don't know jack about the environments.
That kind of careful formulation hasn't saved him from attack by the NRA, which has given him a grade of an "F,"
We know his action. He's not even an F, but an F------------
I'll even give him a 0
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke to the NRA's annual meeting last April. He laid out a bill of particulars against Kerry, including Kerry's votes to ban certain types of ammunition,
Cheney's about the only one to really mention it.
But advocates of the new Democratic Party approach say Kerry, a Vietnam combat veteran and a cocksure outdoorsman, is the right symbol for the party's makeover as the gun owners' friend.
With "friends" like that, who needs enemies. At least Kennedy doesn't hide it.
said Breaux. "He has taken that weapon out of the hands of his opponents."
Breaux, you're as much of a fraud as Kerry is.
"Vote as I say, not as I do."
Reference your post # 17
At least he is consistent and he probably voted for them before he voted against them.
I believe those are the pics the schmucks were getting signed. Thank you!
LOL
IIRC, about 37 dem senators voted for that ammo ban. We can't let them forget that about come Election Day. I have a list of them that Dan from Michigan gave me.
Any gun owners who fall prey to sKerry's lies are too ignorant to be considered "Informed Voters", they must be the sort that let Unions and other liberal oriented organization do their thinking for them.
They will be an embarrassment to the RKBA community.
sKerry is a damn liar, he consistently votes to deprive all Americans of their RKBA.
He made a special point, on a critical primary election day, of voting to permanently extend the unconstitutional "assault weapon ban" and to defeat the bill to end the HCI inspired suits that are attempting to sue gun manufacturers into bankruptcy!
His "support for the second amendment" is conditioned on it being defined only in his (and HCI-MMM-VPC-U.N., etc.) terms.
Those terms amount to total gun confiscation, and surrender of any remaining fragment of our RKBA to control by the United Nations!
I have seen detailed post here, and elsewhere, which make it clear that he always qualifies his alleged support for our RKBA with disclaimers.
He "also" supports "reasonable gun control", "closing the gun show loophole", "permanently extending the assault weapons ban", a bill to "outlaw cop killer rounds of 30-30 Cal. and larger", "waiting periods", etc.
Virtually none of his votes can be honestly interpreted as demonstrating genuine support FOR our RKBA, but they certainly are ATTACKS ON our RKBA!
I strongly suggest that anyone here who really wants to support our RKBA, and perhaps stick it to sKerry at the same time, should go to www.NRAILA.org and find their NRA-EVC.
They can help you to be active in supporting pro-RKBA candidates, the sKerry campaign will NOT be be getting their assistance.
He's not too good a shot when the target's not a wounded teenager trying to hide behind a grass hut.
People vote their wallets. Union members are supported by the Dem machine, so vote for them. Union members who are avid hunters need a plausible story to make them feel ok about it. Thus the famous picture.
Anyone who has bothered to look into the facts knows Kerry is the biggest gun grabber in the Senate, after Feinstein perhaps.
The NRA will make sure more people know this by election day. There is a good article on this out today.
And of course there ARE many good Union members who don't vote for Democrats. I had the pleasure of riding on a plane next to a wonderful older public school teacher who told me she has a full bulletin board dedicated to "our President"! She said: "I'm old and I don't care that it bothers most of the other teachers."
EXTREME MAKEOVER for sure
Put a little lipstick on that gun grabbin' pig and he's still a gun grabbin' pig.
Unfortunately, it's a very clever strategy. Most gun owners won't be fooled by it, but I'm afraid a minority will be.
Everytime I see this 12-guage shotgun story with Kerry...I'm siting there trying to picture Kerry "THAT" close to a deer...and I just can't see it. There ought to be some kinda commericial that the young Republicans can run...with Kerry sitting out on a stump, with a gun leaning against the stump...and just as a deer races by in front of Kerry, the shotgun falls and accidentally kills the deer...and Kerry starts yelling for his buddies to come see what he shot.
Didn't he already try that with "I believe life begins at conception."
"Kerry looking for votes among sportsmen"
People in hell are looking for ice water.
Gun toting and brainless Union thugs for Komrade Kerry.
Here's an idea for converting folks who are not committed about how they are voting for president. Keep it short and sweet.
From that depressing thread, you can state that Kerry wants to ban 30 - 30 deer rifles. From the following link, you can state that Kerry claimed to be taking fire from the Khmer Rouge when he wasn't in Cambodia and almost four years before the Khmer Rouge were recognized as a fighting force there.
I get such a kick out of this. The gun control issue is gone for the Democrats. Yet nowhere in this sleazeball article is the mention of gun ownership for home defense mentioned.
Twelve years ago, the Dems and press said anybody that supported gun rights was a losing candidate. Now they have to claim they agree with us. What a change. I love it.
Gun owners in this country are among the most patriotic, common sense people anywhere. Good luck trying to fool em, Massachusetts Johnny.
Kerry is lying to everyone who will listen to him. He's full of himself.
No, instead, they used area fire with muskets which fired a 3/4 inch round lead ball. I'm sure most any general of the Revolutionary era would have donated both testicles for a platoon equipped with M-16's and sufficient ammo for the duration.
Repeat after me: "Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my gun"....
LOL to both!
LOL!
This is an ACTUAL pic from Reuters on July 3, 2004, NOT a Photoshop!
This post is intended as HUMOR, not intended as offense !
And the sheeple bleet on.......
Unfortunately...even a few is scary. There are people out there that will let the politicians crap all over them and when they get their butt kissed right before the election they forgive everything.
It is a sad state affairs....
Perhaps all of the deer hunters who hunt deer by crawling around the forest on their bellies will vote for John?
Cocksure? I would end that particular word to describe Kerry with the suffix "less".
Hey, I do see a reality series in this though! Hunter's Eye for the "Cocksure" Metrosexual Guy!
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