2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHillary Clinton’s push on gun control marks a shift in presidential politics, vows NRA fight
In her standard stump speech, Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about fighting income inequality, celebrating court rulings on gay marriage and health care, and, since the Emanuel AME Church massacre, toughening the nations gun laws.
That last component marks an important evolution in presidential politics. For at least the past several decades, Democrats seeking national office have often been timid on the issue of guns for fear of alienating firearms owners. In 2008, after Barack Obama took heat for his gaffe about people who cling to guns or religion, he rarely mentioned guns again neither that year nor in his 2012 reelection campaign.
But in a sign that the political environment on guns has shifted in the wake of recent mass shootings and of Clintons determination to stake out liberal ground in her primary race against insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Clinton is not only initiating a debate about gun control but also vowing to fight the National Rifle Association.
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Many Democratic strategists said campaigning on guns is smart politics for Hillary Clinton both in the primary and, should she become the nominee, in the general election.
There are few issues more intractable than guns. In 2013, after the massacre of 20 young children and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks for firearm purchases failed to pass the Senate despite overwhelming popular support and President Obamas backing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-makes-big-gun-control-pitch-marking-shift-in-presidential-politics/2015/07/09/4309232c-2580-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html
tularetom
(23,664 posts)Sure she sounds all gun controlley now,
But in 2008, when she was trying to appeal to "hard working Americans, white Americans"
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/12/clinton-touts-her-experience-with-guns/
VALPARAISO, Indiana (CNN) - Hillary Clinton appealed to Second Amendment supporters on Saturday by hinting that she has some experience of her own pulling triggers.
I disagree with Sen. Obamas assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about trade and immigration simply out of frustration, she began, referring to the Obama comments on small-town Americans that set off a political tumult on Friday.
She then introduced a fond memory from her youth.
You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl, she said.
And then there was this:
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)support as she may gain. She already has all the support she ever will, she has little to gain and will lose some gun fanciers with this stance. The best she can hope for is to retain a few she would have lost otherwise.
People know what this is, classic primary position which will change or never be mentioned again if she reaches the general election. Everyone knows that all on both sides do it, sorry that should be, all but one.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)We need a president who will take the NRA on. I know Obama tried, but as with many of his good intentions, he didn't push the issue very far after he got push back.
SomeBlueDevil
(2 posts)We need a president who will take the NRA on. I know Obama tried, but as with many of his good intentions, he didn't push the issue very far after he got push back.
Many have tried, including but not limited to President Bill Clinton & President Obama/VP Biden. After Wayne LaPierre joined the NRA, they ALL failed. Unfortunately.
It is naive to think that anything has changed or that Hillary is going to tackle this.
Please watch this piece by PBS - Frontline "Gunned Down - the Power of the NRA" to understand why.
[link:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gunned-down/|
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gunned-down/
appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Hillary's enthusiasm for new and expanded gun control laws is entirely consistent with her support for the PATRIOT Act, her failure to condemn the crackdown against Occupy Wall St., her own condemnation of Edward Snowden, her push for a militaristic and coup-supporting approach while serving as SoS. Very little about Hillary is 'liberal.' True liberalism is a spirit of inquiry, a questioning of authority, a faith in fundamental rights that are truly inalienable, and a commitment to enlightenment processes of open debate as a path toward higher truths. When has Hillary embodied these?
So of course she supports gun control.
Don't be surprised when Americans fail to flock to this particular authoritarian banner, despite its ostensible liberal label.
-app