why obama will never win in pennsylvania

I am wholly convinced that Obama cannot win in PA, and his horrendous record on Second Amendment rights is one of the key reasons why.  Obama is now trying to get local politicians to smooth over things, and trying to backtrack from his horrendous legislative record on Second Amendment rights.  My guess is he's hoping to move and bullshit his to the center enough to appease or convince some of the Fudds in PA to support him (first definition in link is good definition of a Fudd). 

“Guns are a cultural lens through which they view candidates,” said Jim Kessler, vice president for policy at Third Way, a progressive think tank. “If you are seen as way off on that issue, then you seem way off on everything. If you are seen as OK, if the lens is clearer, then they continue to look at you and size you up on other things.”

“For Obama, who is less known and is from Chicago, a city guy and an African American, the feeling is that he is anti-gun,” Kessler continued. “By handling the Second Amendment correctly, he starts to get a hearing among these folks.”

Kessler has it absolutely right in the first part, in PA, if you aren't considered friendly to gun owners, you're a political non-starter outside of the Soviet of Philly.  And when it comes to Obama's record on the Second, that ain't a feeling, Jim, that would be truth.

Obama’s approach is similar to one advocated by Third Way, which issued a seven-step blueprint in 2006 to close the “gun gap” with Republicans. In a memo on its website, the group urges progressives to avoid silence on gun issues, and instead “redefine the issue in a way that appeals to gun owning voters.”

Among the key steps, according to Third Way: “Own the Second Amendment” and “Take Your Message Directly to Gun Owners — Don’t Let Your Opponent Define You.”

You can read this as, "try to bullshit and peel off as many Fudds as you can."  Basically, make the Dem politician promise to limit their Nanny Stating to spooky looking weapons.  And yes, it can and does sometimes work, but I don't think Obama's legislative record will allow it to work for him, all but the densest Fudd is gonna know Obama is not a friend to gun owners, not even Fudds themselves.  At this point, I'm about 95% sure that Obama can't take PA in April or November.  Unless McCain totally flames out, McCain'll take PA, and Democrats usually need PA to win the White House. 

And to give you an idea of why the Second is considered such a big issue in PA, and why Obama is sweating on this issue,

The pitch from Obama may prove to be a tough sell with this state, where polling shows four in 10 voters  — with higher percentages in rural areas — own a firearm. But it is a requisite if he hopes to expand his appeal beyond the state’s metropolitan areas.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 08:58 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 519 words, total size 4 kb.