Neve mind, you don’t have to answer that. We know why. It’s because if red state Dems — people like Joe Manchin, Phil Bredesen and Claire McCaskill — actually told voters in their states what they really think about the right to keep and bear arms — not to mention a host of other issues — they couldn’t get themselves elected dog catcher, let alone to a US Senate seat.
Shall we recap for our newer readers? OK then.
First there was West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, he of the famous NRA A rating. Joe just loved to tout that rating for the home folks the first time he ran for a Senate seat back in 2010. He even filmed a commercial in which he used a rifle to blow a hole in a proposed cap and trade bill that would have devastated his state’s coal economy.
What did Ol’ Joe do when he got to D.C.? He teamed up with Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey to push a universal background check bill following Sandy Hook, a measure that would have done exactly nothing to prevent that tragedy if it had been in place before the shooting. Because do something.
Joe thinks the voters back home are a bunch of toothless, brain-addled rubes who won’t remember his gun rights about face. That’s why he’s back again this election season shooting yet another bill, this time with shotgun.
So far the polls show he’s right. But the latest Real Clear Politics poll average that shows him 9+ points up was compiled pre-Kavanaugh. We’ll see if that circus (Joe really hopes his vote to confirm Kavanaugh is enough to save his duplicitous backside) has the same effect in West Virginia that it has on similarly endangered Dems in other red states.
Then there’s Tennessee’s Phil Bredesen. The former governor couldn’t vote to confirm Kavanaugh, but he let it be know he definitely would if he had a chance. That may have helped a little…until one of his campaign staffers was caught on video admitting that it was all a load of boob bait for the bubbas back home.
Similarly, Bredesen also wants Volunteer Staters to know their gun rights would still be safe with him in DC.
Real independence and not party politics — that’s what’s right for Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/BmyyvJGL2e
— Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) September 19, 2018
But that appears to be more Kavanaugh-esque shucking and jiving. Surprising virtually no one, it turns out that if Bredesen beats Masha Blackburn in November (he’s currently trailing by almost six points), Bredesen will probably be only too happy to line up with Chuckles Schumer to provide another reliable anti-gun vote for the Democrat caucus.
From freebeacon.com:
A top spokesman for the Tennessee Democratic Party’s effort to get Phil Bredesen elected senator has said he views “white male” gun owners as “the biggest terrorist organization on the planet.”
Mark Brown is communications director for Tennessee Victory 2018, a project of the state Democratic party that’s been working exclusively on electing Bredesen. The group is hosting Bredesen for a Johnson City meet-and-greet on Thursday afternoon. …
Bredesen has attempted to present himself to voters as a moderate who could work across the aisle with Republicans.
Bredesen has also presented himself as a pro-gun candidate, bragging in an ad of high ratings from the National Rifle Association. (The NRA called on Bredesen to take down the ad because the rating was outdated and it now opposes him due to his changed views.)
@PhilBredesen It’s not 2002, you’re not governor and you’re not A-rated by the NRA. Its 2018, you have earned a D rating for turning your back on self-defense and supporting the Hillary/Schumer/Bloomberg gun control agenda. @VoteMarsha is a 2A champion. You’re not. #stoplying pic.twitter.com/Wi0ORRmQTv
— Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxNRA) September 20, 2018
Which brings us to Missouri’s Claire McCaskill, another victim of Project Veritas’s hidden cameras…and her own big mouth when she thinks she’s among friends.
Unlike Manchin, Claire voted against Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. And from the video above, it turns out that despite being from one of the most gun-friendly states in the union, Claire wouldn’t think twice about sticking a shiv in the voters back home if Dems manage flip enough Senate seats in November.
MCCASKILL: “Well if we elect enough Democrats we’ll get some gun safety stuff done. They won’t let us vote on it, we’ve got 60 votes for a number of measures that would help with gun safety, but McConnell won’t let ’em come to the floor.”
JOURNALIST: “Like bump stocks, ARs and high capacity mags…?”
MCCASKILL: “Universal background checks, all of that… But if we have the kind of year I think we might have I think we could actually be in a position to get votes on this stuff on the floor and we’d get 60 [votes]…”
JOURNALIST: “So you would be on board with the bump stocks and… high capacity mags.”
MCCASKILL: “Of course! Of course!”
The race is still close, but her opponent, Josh Hawley, appears to have gotten a post-Kavanaugh bounce.
So there you have it. Three red state Dems who paint themselves as being reasonable, independent and pro-gun enough not to spook the horses in their respective electorates. But all three have let the mask slip enough to show that none of them can be counted on to buck their party’s leaders if and when the question of more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms comes up for a vote.
