Some Good Points Last Night

If anyone missed Ashley last night, you can download the MP3 here. She brought up a couple of good points toward the end in regards to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, who are currently infecting Pennsylvania mayors like the swine flu. There’s a rule in politics that perception of power matters just as much, and probably more, than actual power. When MAIG goes into a state legislators office to lobby their position, it’s quite powerful to be able to say

“You know Mr. Representative, we have four mayors in your district who support our position on this bill. This is something the mayors and people in your district want.”

Even if the reality is that NRA members have the power to unseat the Representative, we really want to avoid having to teach that lesson. What MAIG is doing is creating the perception of power. The perception that voting their way may have some tangible benefit for a state level politician. And an implication of cost or embarrassment for going against local mayors.

MAIG is bringing the culture war over guns to our towns, cities, and local communities, and we have to meet them with strong resistance. Ashley has worked to make MAIG membership a political liability in her states. But that’s something NRA can’t really do without us.

One thought on “Some Good Points Last Night”

  1. That is so true about the state legislators, in my experience. After 3 meetings with mine, he finally said even if he did want to help out, his constituency included the Mayor of Morton Grove, IL and Chicago.

Comments are closed.