Questions raised over McCain's NRA endorsement John Byrne

Published: Monday October 13, 2008





Print This Email This The National Rifle Association's endorsement of Sen. John McCain over former Georgia congressman and NRA board member Bob Barr has raised questions over whether the gun rights organization has betrayed traditional allegiances in endorsing a Republican over the principles of its members.



Barr, the libertarian candidate, is admittedly a long shot for president, and political organizations have been known to hold their nose and back candidates who are less supportive because they are more viable in an election. But the NRA has a history of sitting out elections where they don't think either candidate is supportive enough on guns. In 1996 and 1992, the organization declined to endorse either Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush or Bob Dole.



As such, the group's decision to endorse McCain has left some supporters puzzled. McCain isn't an NRA member.



Barr received an A+ rating for every term of Congress he served, and once served on the organization's board.



"Previously, the NRA backed pro-gun Democratic incumbents to show their appreciation and I suppose to hedge their bets," Barr supporter and elector Richard Cooper wrote Saturday. "But in the Bush years with Karl Roves strategies for making Republican majorities permanent, this policy seems to have been largely abandoned."



"What do these actions show?" he added. "The NRA is officially the National Rifle Association. However, it has become the National Republican Association."



NRA chief Wayne LaPierre has brushed off criticism of the group's support for McCain.



"He's cast more than 60 votes in the Senate in support of the Second Amendment," LaPierre told the Washington Times. Praising McCain VP pick Sarah Palin, he said, "She's a hunter, she's a Second Amendment supporter and she's a tremendous asset to the ticket."



Palin received an A+ rating with the group when she ran for governor in 2006. As mayor, she spent $750 from her campaign fund to upgrade her NRA membership.



"It is understandable given the two party stranglehold on American politics dubbed by some a 'duopoly,'" Cooper added. "But is it justifiable?"



"Does anyone still think that John McCain has any chance to defeat Barack Obama?" he continued. "A vote for John McCain is a wasted vote. John McCain is spoiling Bob Barr's chances to defend the entire Bill of Rights, which is under threat from both Obama and McCain."



The NRA withheld its endorsement throughout the primaries, even after Sen. John McCain had become the presumptive nominee. If anything, it seems that Palin tipped the balance.



An NRA endorsement, notes Hotline, is seen as a "vital seal of approval for the party's conservative base and a nod that matters to voters in rural swing states, such as New Hampshire and Virginia."



