Counterbalance

16 April 2014

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Bloomberg Gunning for NRA with $50 Million

After 12 years as Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg has decided to continue his participation in the political process by fighting the gun lobby. He has started a group called Everytown for Gun Safety, and he plans to spend $50 million to counteract the political spending of the National Rifle Association. This is what has been missing from the gun safety (formerly gun control) faction.

The NRA has managed to put the fear of God into politicians by threatening to fund challengers should they vote against even the most irresponsible use of guns. CNN reported, "The organization has spent more than $30 million in lobbying since 1998, and its political action committee has spent nearly $150 million on campaigns since 1990. Already in the first two months of 2014, which is an election year, the powerful gun group has raised $14 million, according to public data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics."

Mr. Bloomberg's $50 million is a start in rebalancing the equation, and he has decided to spend it wisely. Jeremy W. Peters of The New York Times, who broke the story, wrote "Mr. Bloomberg's blueprint reimagines the way gun control advocates have traditionally confronted the issue. Rather than relying so heavily on television ad campaigns, Mr. Bloomberg will put a large portion of his resources into the often-unseen field operations that have been effective for groups like the N.R.A. in driving single-issue, like-minded voters to the polls." The ground game is where elections are won or lost.

Wisely, he has opted not to make this a Democratic PAC. Instead, he is aiming for a bipartisan entity, and his selection of board members speaks volumes: Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and Bush's Homeland Security Secretary; philanthropist Eli Broad; Warren Buffett; and Michael G. Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Presidents Bush and Obama.

The gun lobby put a brave face on it. Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. He's got the money to waste," Mr. Pratt said. "So I guess he's free to do so. But frankly, I think he';s going to find out why his side keeps losing." Actually, Mr. Bloomberg ran as a Republican in heavily Democratic New York City for his first term, and served three in total. If there one thing he is not, it is a political loser.

Everytown for Gun Safety, however, will be taking the women's side in the war on women. "Right now, women, when they go to the polls, they vote on abortion, they vote on jobs, they vote on health care," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. "We want one of those things to be gun violence prevention." Moms are a particularly attractive demographic for Mr. Bloomberg -- school shootings play to every mother's (and father's) worst fears.

In the end, the argument over guns and their proper place in America is going to go on for a few generations yet. The gun culture and its opponents are simply too evenly divided for anything resembling a resolution. However, Everytown has given every politician pause for thought. Until now, they only had to worry about upsetting the NRA. Now, they need worry about the other side as well.

© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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