Nashville City Paper
NRA endorses Corker; Ford chair displeased
By John Rodgers
September 13, 2006
The National Rifle Association endorsed Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Corker Tuesday, a move that has paid political dividends in Tennessee for past candidates like George W. Bush.
Chris Cox, the chairman of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) political action committee, said the organization chose Corker over the Democratic nominee, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-Memphis), because of Corker’s entire record of supporting gun ownership rights.
“We should focus any serious discussion on crime policy on criminals who misuse guns and not on law-abiding gun owners,” Cox said. “[Corker] applied that approach successfully as mayor of Chattanooga.”
Cox said Ford, who was first elected in 1996, didn’t support NRA positions early in his Congressional career, pointing to two F ratings from the NRA in 2002 and 2000.
But Cox said Ford has been “supportive, particularly in recent years,” of the NRA.
Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-Pall Mall), who also serves as Ford’s campaign chairman and is a lifetime member of the NRA, listed a series of votes Ford has cast that supported the Second Amendment, including votes to limit civil lawsuits against the gun industry and to lift a ban on handguns in the District of Columbia.
Davis said he was “extremely disappointed” in the NRA’s endorsement and said the Republicans put pressure on the gun rights organization to endorse Corker because Ford is about to “dust their pants.”
“My disappointment with NRA’s endorsement is this: What has Bob Corker done as mayor of Chattanooga that would put him in position where he would be entitled for an endorsement from the National Rifle Association?” Davis said.
Corker said that he is committed to being a “consistent voice” for the second amendment and battle against attempts to weaken constitutional rights.
“Unlike Congressman Ford, I understand that criminals cause crime – and not guns,” Corker said in a statement. “His votes and legislation he introduced in Congress have been hostile to the rights of hunters and law-abiding citizens.”
Corker hopes the NRA’s endorsement can help him the same way it aided George W. Bush defeat former Vice President Al Gore for president in Gore’s home state in 2000.
Pat Nolan, a Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence senior vice president and political analyst who has followed Tennessee politics for 32 years, said many people think the NRA’s endorsement of Bush in 2000 “played a fairly large and significant role in Gore not carrying this state.”
“Gore kind of ignored the state, took it for granted” Nolan said. “By the time his folks realized … it was too late. I don’t think Ford will let that happen. I suspect he’ll be more vigilant.”
The NRA ran advertisements in support of Bush in 2000. Cox said the organization would not release its strategy for Corker, but its resources include radio ads, mailings, billboards and financial contributions.
Davis disagreed that the NRA endorsement helped Bush to defeat Gore in Tennessee in 2000, saying President Bill Clinton’s vetoing partial birth abortion legislation was the “biggest thing that beat Al Gore.”
“And Gore assumed, as many of us did, that he was going to carry Tennessee,” Davis said. “You never assume anything when you get the right wing of the Republican Party working against you. They don’t give up on anything.”
In 2002, the NRA endorsed then-Congressman Van Hilleary in his gubernatorial bid over Phil Bredesen.
Bredesen, however, deflected the effects of that endorsement and went on to defeat Hilleary.
For Corker, Nolan said the NRA endorsement could be effective because it helps reinforce a conservative image for the former Chattanooga mayor. Corker’s conservative credentials were questioned during his Republican primary bid.
NRA endorses Corker; Ford chair displeased
By John Rodgers
September 13, 2006
The National Rifle Association endorsed Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Corker Tuesday, a move that has paid political dividends in Tennessee for past candidates like George W. Bush.
Chris Cox, the chairman of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) political action committee, said the organization chose Corker over the Democratic nominee, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-Memphis), because of Corker’s entire record of supporting gun ownership rights.
“We should focus any serious discussion on crime policy on criminals who misuse guns and not on law-abiding gun owners,” Cox said. “[Corker] applied that approach successfully as mayor of Chattanooga.”
Cox said Ford, who was first elected in 1996, didn’t support NRA positions early in his Congressional career, pointing to two F ratings from the NRA in 2002 and 2000.
But Cox said Ford has been “supportive, particularly in recent years,” of the NRA.
Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-Pall Mall), who also serves as Ford’s campaign chairman and is a lifetime member of the NRA, listed a series of votes Ford has cast that supported the Second Amendment, including votes to limit civil lawsuits against the gun industry and to lift a ban on handguns in the District of Columbia.
Davis said he was “extremely disappointed” in the NRA’s endorsement and said the Republicans put pressure on the gun rights organization to endorse Corker because Ford is about to “dust their pants.”
“My disappointment with NRA’s endorsement is this: What has Bob Corker done as mayor of Chattanooga that would put him in position where he would be entitled for an endorsement from the National Rifle Association?” Davis said.
Corker said that he is committed to being a “consistent voice” for the second amendment and battle against attempts to weaken constitutional rights.
“Unlike Congressman Ford, I understand that criminals cause crime – and not guns,” Corker said in a statement. “His votes and legislation he introduced in Congress have been hostile to the rights of hunters and law-abiding citizens.”
Corker hopes the NRA’s endorsement can help him the same way it aided George W. Bush defeat former Vice President Al Gore for president in Gore’s home state in 2000.
Pat Nolan, a Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence senior vice president and political analyst who has followed Tennessee politics for 32 years, said many people think the NRA’s endorsement of Bush in 2000 “played a fairly large and significant role in Gore not carrying this state.”
“Gore kind of ignored the state, took it for granted” Nolan said. “By the time his folks realized … it was too late. I don’t think Ford will let that happen. I suspect he’ll be more vigilant.”
The NRA ran advertisements in support of Bush in 2000. Cox said the organization would not release its strategy for Corker, but its resources include radio ads, mailings, billboards and financial contributions.
Davis disagreed that the NRA endorsement helped Bush to defeat Gore in Tennessee in 2000, saying President Bill Clinton’s vetoing partial birth abortion legislation was the “biggest thing that beat Al Gore.”
“And Gore assumed, as many of us did, that he was going to carry Tennessee,” Davis said. “You never assume anything when you get the right wing of the Republican Party working against you. They don’t give up on anything.”
In 2002, the NRA endorsed then-Congressman Van Hilleary in his gubernatorial bid over Phil Bredesen.
Bredesen, however, deflected the effects of that endorsement and went on to defeat Hilleary.
For Corker, Nolan said the NRA endorsement could be effective because it helps reinforce a conservative image for the former Chattanooga mayor. Corker’s conservative credentials were questioned during his Republican primary bid.
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