LOBBYING

Palin May Be NRA's Best Ammo

Lifetime Member And Avid Hunter Palin Will Help Rally Gun Owners, Lobbyist Says

by Peter H. Stone

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


By now, millions of Americans have seen photos of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin testing weapons while visiting members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait.

But it wouldn't be surprising if millions more in battleground states get to see similar pictures soon -- plus appearances by Palin herself -- in states where gun rights are a big issue, courtesy of the National Rifle Association's fat $40 million budget for this year's elections and parallel plans by the McCain campaign to deploy Palin where gun owners are numerous.

When John McCain plucked Palin, a lifetime NRA member and an enthusiastic hunter, from relative obscurity to be his No. 2, the NRA found new ammunition for its already expensive drive to bar Barack Obama from the White House.

The McCain-Palin ticket has spawned "great excitement among gun owners and hunters," says Chris Cox, the NRA's top lobbyist in Washington. "Our focus is to arm gun owners with the facts," Cox adds, pun intended, noting that the 4 million-member NRA intends to do comprehensive education and voter-turnout work targeting the nation's 80 million gun owners.

The Palin pick is going to be highlighted on a recently launched NRA website, gunbanobama.com, which will be used to mobilize voters and will soon feature the print, radio, and TV ads that the NRA is expected to launch this month.

Even before Palin was tapped, the NRA had planned a hefty get-out-the-vote drive in about a dozen states, particularly such Midwestern swing states as Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Similarly, the McCain campaign is also keen on deploying Palin in these and other states where gun rights and hunting resonate with voters, according to a senior McCain aide. The McCain campaign looks forward to sending Palin to battleground states "in the heartland, where 2nd Amendment rights are particularly treasured," explained the aide, who asked not to be named.

The McCain aide added that the campaign also intends to draw a sharp contrast between Palin and Obama's No. 2, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who was heavily involved in the passage of the 1994 crime bill that contained a ban on assault weapons.

In the eyes of Wayne LaPierre, the longtime NRA president, Palin's addition to the ticket "is a plus. I think her candidacy has helped activists in those states which care about Second Amendment and hunting-rights issues."

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