New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday’s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg’s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep. Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its match.

Bloomberg, a wealthy gun-control advocate who’s become increasingly
vocal in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, spent more than $3.5
million in campaign ads that helped Kelly win the race. Those attack ads
pitted Kelly against pro-gun Democrat Debbie Halvorson, a one-time
congresswoman, who led the field in polls as recently as last week.

Bloomberg’s ads, paid for by his Independence USA super PAC, lambasted
Halvorson for her ”A” rating from the NRA. His money dominated the race.
As OpenSecrets points out, “[Independence USA] spent more than six times
as much as the campaigns of the five actual candidates.”

Halvorson had bristled at the outside spending, and told voters to “send
a message to New York” by rejecting his influence and supporting her
anyway, but the voters didn’t listen. Kelly, another gun control
advocate, won the race easily with 58% of the vote.

Kelly clearly sees her victory as a win for gun safety. “You sent a
message that was heard around our state and across the nation,” Kelly
told supporters last night. “A message that tells the NRA that their
days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end.”

Bloomberg called her win “an important victory for common sense
leadership on gun violence.”

The question going forward is what role Bloomberg’s Independence USA
Super PAC could play in future races. So far he is the group’s only
donor, having given nearly $10 million of his own money to the cause.
That money doesn’t yet rival the NRA’s $25 million in outside spending
in 2012, but it could if Bloomberg can rally others to his cause.

It will also be interesting to see how anti-gun spending impacts races
in more “purple” districts and states. Illinois’s 2nd district is
reliably Democratic, which may be part of why the anti-NRA message
resonated so well with voters.

It may also be a reflection of the growing number of people who dislike
the NRA. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found the organization
has a 41% approval and 34% disapproval rating from Americans. It’s
approval had remained steady since the January 2011 poll, but the
disapproval had jumped.

"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday’s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg’s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep. Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its
match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race". The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent
Democratic with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The
Republican candidate for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the
primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's money or
support.

"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday’s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg’s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep. Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race". The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent Democratic
with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The Republican candidate
for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's money or support.

The race in question was over the Democratic Party nomination. Ma. Kelly
had a well known democratic opponent who was an NRA supporter.

In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday?s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg?s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep. Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race". The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent Democratic
with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The Republican candidate
for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's money or support.

The race in question was over the Democratic Party nomination. Ma. Kelly
had a well known democratic opponent who was an NRA supporter.

As far as I know, this was the first time an NRA "A" rating was used
AGAINST a candidate. There were other elements influencing the primary,
so the effectiveness of using the NRA rating AGAINST this candidate is
hard to judge. But it is a sea change, having NRA endorsements cut both
ways.
I do know an NRA "A" rating would put me on the side of the opponent.
When you consider that the NRA supports easy access to guns for
criminals and maniacs, you don't want their followers in political
office.
But then, I'm not a gun nut.

"Boating All Out" wrote in message
...

In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday?s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman
Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot,
Bloomberg?s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep.
Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met
its match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race".
The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent
Democratic
with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The Republican
candidate
for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's
money or support.

The race in question was over the Democratic Party nomination. Ma.
Kelly
had a well known democratic opponent who was an NRA supporter.

As far as I know, this was the first time an NRA "A" rating was used
AGAINST a candidate. There were other elements influencing the
primary,
so the effectiveness of using the NRA rating AGAINST this candidate is
hard to judge. But it is a sea change, having NRA endorsements cut
both
ways.
I do know an NRA "A" rating would put me on the side of the opponent.
When you consider that the NRA supports easy access to guns for
criminals and maniacs, you don't want their followers in political
office.
But then, I'm not a gun nut.

-------------------------------

I am not a gun nut either, but I own some. Say, I didn't know it
was the NRA's policy to support easy access to guns for criminals and
maniacs.
When did that happen?

"F.O.A.D." wrote in message ...

"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday’s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg’s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep.
Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its
match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race". The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent
Democratic
with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The Republican
candidate
for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's money
or support.

The race in question was over the Democratic Party nomination. Ma.
Kelly
had a well known democratic opponent who was an NRA supporter.

=========================

You're right. My bad. I was thinking about the actual election.

"Eisboch" wrote:
"Boating All Out" wrote in message
...

In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in effect won Tuesday?s special
election primary for the Illinois seat vacated by Congressman Jesse
Jackson II. Though his name did not even make the ballot, Bloomberg?s
money did in propping up the victor, former Illinois State Rep. Robin
Kelly, in a sign that the all powerful pro-gun NRA lobby has met its match.
-----------------------------------------

He wasted his money. I was watching MSNBC cover this "race". The
district that Robin Kelly will represent is almost 100 percent Democratic
with something like 600,000 Democratic voters. The Republican candidate
for the seat got less than 1,000 votes in the primary.

She was going to win, hands down, with or without Bloomberg's money or support.

The race in question was over the Democratic Party nomination. Ma. Kelly
had a well known democratic opponent who was an NRA supporter.

As far as I know, this was the first time an NRA "A" rating was used
AGAINST a candidate. There were other elements influencing the primary,
so the effectiveness of using the NRA rating AGAINST this candidate is
hard to judge. But it is a sea change, having NRA endorsements cut both
ways.
I do know an NRA "A" rating would put me on the side of the opponent.
When you consider that the NRA supports easy access to guns for
criminals and maniacs, you don't want their followers in political
office.
But then, I'm not a gun nut.

-------------------------------

I am not a gun nut either, but I own some. Say, I didn't know it was
the NRA's policy to support easy access to guns for criminals and maniacs.
When did that happen?

When they gave lukewarm support for background checks.

In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
I am not a gun nut either, but I own some. Say, I didn't know it
was
the NRA's policy to support easy access to guns for criminals and maniacs.
When did that happen?

When they gave lukewarm support for background checks.

Wrong. The NRA OPPOSES universal background checks.

In article ,
says...

In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
I am not a gun nut either, but I own some. Say, I didn't know it
was
the NRA's policy to support easy access to guns for criminals and maniacs.
When did that happen?

When they gave lukewarm support for background checks.

Wrong. The NRA OPPOSES universal background checks.

You do know that a universal background is in effect a national gun-
owners registry.

On 3/2/13 4:13 PM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article , says...

"Eisboch" wrote:
I am not a gun nut either, but I own some. Say, I didn't know it
was
the NRA's policy to support easy access to guns for criminals and maniacs.
When did that happen?

When they gave lukewarm support for background checks.

Wrong. The NRA OPPOSES universal background checks.


At one point, the NRA claimed to favor background checks, but not
anymore. I favor universal background checks and registration of all
firearms. Now, some older firearms don't have serial numbers but very
few of the "antiques" are used in criminal activities. Registration in
no way prevents the average person from owning a firearm. The NRA
crazies will say it is the first step towards confiscation by the
government, but that's just more bat**** craziness from gun nuts.