and I agree, you need to write this "single issue" groups and say "what the hell is going on" because they often endorse the worst candidate and it seemingly is along party lines and not dependent upon view for their particular positions.

I find it very odious.

they don't do anything for him.  Last year, for example, the NRA endorsed Creigh Deeds, then proceeded to do NOTHING for him.  Great endorsement.  Why doesn't the NRA just give up the pretense of being non-partistan and declare itself as an arm of the Republican Party for tax and legal purposes?

  I don't think it particularly odd or unfair that a group like the NRA, given two candidates with views eqaully appealing, would choose to support the republican one. Lets face it, more current republicans pols are in sync with the NRA's views than democrats, so by supporting the republican candidate they are also supporting the republican agenda. I do think however that it is shortsighted. Anti-gun control republicans are a dime a dozen, getting one elected doesn't change anything. But getting a "pro gun-rights" democrat elected in a state trending blue can make a major difference. If Webb wins, he'll be more likely to hold the seat as an incumbent, and in a state that is getting bluer an incumbent pro gun-rights dem could be a real asset to the NRA. If Allen wins, well you're leaving his seat open to a future loss to a dem, who may not get a "A" from the NRA....

NRA, Prometheus thou art not.

Jim Kirkman was making this very same point at the "Sportsmen for Webb" table at the Militaria Show last weekend (and I assume the other gun shows).

Makes sense to me...

This election is about who controls the Senate.

they have a good discussion of how the NRA hurt sportsmen by focusing so narrowly and rigidly on the 2nd amendment.

The truth is that the NRA has greater loyalty to rifles than sportmen when you really look at the particulars.

I mean sportsmen - with the s..

was founded on the premise of promoting gun safety.

their current partisan stance on promoting GOP candidates and issues are the reason I have not joined.

They are not as they want to appear: non-partisan.

Both Kellam and Drake have an A, yet Drake is endorsed.  I think there are more politics behind this than issues.  If Democrats take control, it may be more likely that more gun control legislation passes.  Even though these individual Democrats may support the Second Amendment, the NRA is doing what it can to keep the GOP in control so that there is no chance for more gun control laws.  Notice the only Dem they're behind, Rick Boucher, is one that is going to win by 30 or so point.  By endorsing Rick, they have some influence over him.  But in the close races (2nd, Senate), they're endorsing the GOP.

Jim Webb personally told me and another longtime Democrat that he would not seek the NRA endorsement and would not expect them to give it to him.

To neutralize a group that Allen probably counts as part of his base is not a bad thing to have happen.  As somebody else pointed out, it takes the focus off guns and puts it on other issues.

For a lot of union members, that's huge.  Lots of people in unions are hunters and gun owners. So now they can concentrate on the bread and butter issues such as jobs, protecting pensions, better health insurance, fairer taxes, and more opportunity.

It means we can have the discussion on Iraq.

One less wedge issue for the Allen campaign hurts him far more than it does Jim Webb.  So take the A and run with it.

The gools wrote:
My understanding is that the NRA
was founded on the premise of promoting gun safety.

And the Repub party, originally, stood for small government and personal freedoms. All those ideals got flushed down the sewer by the current "interpreters". It's not just the game rules that have changed in the past few years; it's the entire game board.

Half the men in my immediate family hunt for sport and each of them owns several hunting rifles (one also hunts with a bow, to extend the hunting season). But it has nothing to do with their being "against NRA" and NRA's cockamamie idea that every citizen needs several handguns as well, and at least one assault weapon, without *any* oversight on the purchases. How many of you hunt rabbits or even deer with an AK?

Barf.

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