Hindsight from The New Gun Week November 20, 1998
Schumer Wins, GOP Falters in House
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive EditorA working single-mom's van that's usually parked on my street has a bumper sticker that says: "Mean People Suck."
I wish the leadership of the Republican majority had read the bumper sticker well before the election and thought about it. That's not because I join the general media in trying to portray Republicans as mean. It's because I believe I understand the GOP's lack of essential public relations, spin-doctoring and salesmanship skills-traits that are needed to express political issues in terms that people will find relevant to their own lives, families and future.
Issues are important, of course, and the GOP didn't articulate clear positions. But the way issues are presented is even more important in an age when most Americans read little and few spend significant time studying issues on television, radio or the Internet.
Republicans like the Bush brothers in Texas and Florida, or George Pataki in New York, understand what I am trying to say, and their victories prove it. None of the three is much less a conservative Republican than say House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) or Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). All five of them can smile when they speak, but how they say what they have to say and how it is received by their audiences makes all the difference in the world. Those GOP leaders who don't understand this were disappointed as the votes were counted on Nov. 3. Those who do were rejoicing.
That failure to understand what is important to voters and what is not ended up being a tragic flaw in the otherwise brilliant House career of Newt Gingrich. He led the GOP to the promised land after 40 years, but lost sight of the tablets when he got there.
Bill Clinton may be a scoundrel, but he manages to convey charisma when he smiles and makes people believe he has their best interests at heart. The Democrats managed to turn out their base on Nov. 3, while Republicans failed to do so. The GOP even failed to inspire most gunowners across the country.
The Democrats managed to portray such pro-gun candidates as Ellen Sauerbrey in Maryland as an extremist and the lackey of the gun lobby. Thus, the re-election of Gov. Parris Glendening may have been one of the bitterest pills for gun rights activists.
But Nov. 3 cannot be viewed as a Clinton victory. Because of him and his scandal, the Democrats were prevented from regaining control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which they might very well have done except for their man in the White House.
Neither major party really won a mandate. Both parties got their noses rubbed in the dirt once again. An independent won re-election as governor of Maine, and an independent, Jesse Ventura, came from nowhere to win the governor's race in Minnesota with a "pox on both their houses" Reform Party approach.
Of course, how the Republicans fare in Congress is only relevant to gunowners because more Republicans than Democrats tend to support the right to bear arms and self-defense. But if the Republican leadership doesn't do any better for gunowners in the new Congress than it did in the past, the GOP may be even more disappointed in the 2000 elections than they were this year.Referendums
Gunowners split on the two key popular referendums that directly affected gun rights.
In Florida, anti-gun Amendment 12 to the state constitution passed 72% to 28%. It would break up state firearms preemption law by allowing counties to enact three- to five-day waiting periods for purposes of requiring background checks on private sales at any event open to the public, such as gun shows.
In Wisconsin, the statewide referendum on adding a right to keep and bear arms amendment to the state constitution passed 73% to 27%.
Sportsmen won some and lost some in other statewide votes involving wildlife.
In Alaska, a referendum to ban trapping of wolves failed, but in California a proposal to ban the use of traps and some poisons was approved by voters.
In Ohio, voters soundly rejected Proposition 1, which would have removed mourning doves from the game bird list and prevented dove hunting, was defeated 60% to 40%.
In Minnesota, voters approved a constitutional protection for the right to hunt and fish.
And in Utah, a referendum that slows the citizen initiative process on changes to wildlife laws, was approved by voters by a margin of 58% to 42%. This proposal was designed to prevent well-heeled animal rights activists from forcing their views on voters.
The New Gun Week is published three times a month by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) on the 1st, 10th, and 20th. Hindsight is a commentary written by SAF President and Gun Week Executive Editor Joseph P. Tartaro. This commentary may be reprinted so long as credit is given to the author and the publication. For more information or to subscribe, write Gun Week, PO Box 488, Buffalo, NY 14209, or call 716-885-6408 Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, or inquire on Compuserve to John Krull, Production manager-JohnSAF@Compuserve.com or gunweeksaf@broadviewnet.netAlso, check out the New Gun Week at http://www.GunWeek.com