Will NRA Endorse McCain?

It’s been something I’ve been wondering, but I think Palin’s addition to the ticket might change things.  I still lean toward the idea that McCain is not worthy of an endorsement, but then I think how much is on the line this election.  McCain is far from perfect, but I think it should be considered in the following light:

  • Gerald Ford never met a “reasonable gun law” he didn’t support, and is responsible for Stevens being on The Court.
  • Ronald Reagan favored the enactment of the Brady Act, but also nominated Kennedy and Scalia to The Court.
  • George H.W. Bush, who was Reagan’s VP before becoming president, issued an executive order to ban so called assault weapons using his powers under the GCA of 1968.  While he put Souter on The Court, he also put Justice Thomas.
  • Bob Dole did not receive an NRA endorsement in 1996 because of his stance on the Clinton gun ban, and lost to Bill Clinton.
  • George W. Bush favored re-enacting the assault weapons ban.  Granted, his VP pick was pretty good, but Dick Cheney is a duck gun kind of guy.  Bush’s Solicitor General worked against us in Heller, but he put Roberts and Alito on The Court.
  • McCain favors regulating private sales, but Palin is pretty solidly pro-gun, and is a hunter and NRA life member.  Unlike a lot of other politicians, he’s not afraid to oppose an assault weapons ban.  He’s picked up a lot of obscure pro-gun candidates and put them front and center on the public stage.

I’m not saying NRA should endorse McCain, but I’m not going to freak out if they do.  In terms of previous Republican presidents, McCain is really no worse, and may even be better.  I have no idea which way NRA is leaning in terms of an endorsement, but I’m willing to accept either course of action.  An endorsement has serious political consequences for how people on the ground may help his campaign.  While I wish McCain would repudiate his stance on private sales, gun owners have been able to make progress with a very imperfect endorsed presidential candidates from the 1980s to now.  I worry that ceding the White House to Barack Obama will cause us to lose everything we’ve worked on for the past decade.

12 thoughts on “Will NRA Endorse McCain?”

  1. **I worry that ceding the White House to Barack Obama will cause us to lose everything we’ve worked on for the past decade.**

    And beyond, I fear………

  2. Hmm…What if the GOP decides that it wants to nominate Palin for President and John McCain (or someone else) for VP instead? Could that possibly happen?

  3. It won’t. The rules wouldn’t allow it …. besides the Republican Establishment has deemed its McAmnesty’s turn.

  4. Wayne has said that 48 mill was to be used to get McCaine elected. It may have been at Feb CPAC convention. That was a really neat to have Bush, Cheney, Romney, McCain, Ron Paul Hucklebee all there to give speeches.

    The rotten thing was when Romney said he was dropping out. MOst at CPAC wanted Romney.

    Palin was my choice for VP in Feb once it was obvious McCain would be the candidate. I happy to see that it came true.

  5. McCain was one of the few to oppose the original AWB, back when it was considered to be the holiest of holies and a completely safe political move.

    Although he has foolishly supported the gunshow loophole nonsense, I think either of the Bushes was a million times worse and certainly far less deserving of an endorsement.

    McCain deserves an endorsement, even at the risk of damaging the NRA’s long winning streak for presidential endorsements.

  6. There’s a lot on the line this election cycle, i.e., the Court(s). Both sides know the Court(s) affect the country much longer than any one given cycle. Right now a 5/4 majority is pretty slim.

    I seem to recall McCain saying he would appoint “conservatives” to the Supreme Court – certainly more conservative than Obama/Biden would. And, of course, this would not be easy with a Democrat controlled Senate.

    Bill Clinton said it just the other day: “‘Hypotheticaly’ if you have candidate ‘X’ who promises everything and can’t deliver anything, and candidate ‘Y,’ who you disagree with half the time, but can deliver the other half, who do you vote for.” (Was this an endorsement of McCain???)

    Put a little differently: You may not agree with all McCain says/does, but sometimes it’s better to settle for half-a-loaf than to end up with a couple of crumbs.

  7. Wayne has said that 48 mill was to be used to get McCaine elected. It may have been at Feb CPAC convention.

    Except it was $40 million to defeat Obama and told in an interview with Politico in June by Chris.

    Sorry for the nitpicking, but it does fundamentally change the context of the discussion.

  8. Bob Dole was peaking in the polls when he told a reporter no one cared about guns. I was on the phone with a supplier when someone came in my suppliers office and told him what Dole had just said.

    “There goes the election,” was Jim’s comment.

    “Yep,” was the only thing I could think of to say.

    A lot of us do care about guns. Hopefully McCain will avoid a fatal case of hoof in mouth disease. Because whether the NRA endorses McCain or not, the alternative is much, much worse.

  9. You forgot to add that Bush II’s Dept. of Justice under Ashcroft penned the individual rights memo that was used in DC vs Heller.

  10. please visit my web site and help me get my home state of pennsylvania, or
    1 million licenced hunters, and est, 4-6 million gun owners out to vote for
    mccain and hand our 21 electoral votes to the gop, and keep gun grabbers like OBAMA/BIDEN out of the white house and out of our gun cabinets

  11. I don’t understand why NRA members are not supporting Libertarian Bob Barr. He’s the best friend gun owners have in this 2008 election, plus he’s an NRA board member! Sure he’s a very long shot, but if NRA would endorse him that would do great things for his support at the polls. Besides most people I know don’t like either McCain or Obama and are voting for “the lesser of the two evils”. What a ignorant thing to do… if all those would vote for Barr [who stands for most of the things they really want], he WOULD have a genuine shot at winning.

    GOA [Gun Owners of America] strongly opposes McCain and Obama, and supports Barr. If you are a true 2nd amendment person, the choice is clear.

  12. Because Bob Barr has no chance of winning, and this a vote for him is as good as a vote for Obama. It might feel better to vote Barr but gun owners don’t have the numbers to elect anyone as a coalition of one.

    And GOA is a fraud. Don’t listen to the worthless pablum they spew.

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