[WAGCEVP]

ean Losing Left's Support with Gun-Control, Drugs Stance

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, who has been steadily gaining
support, is starting to lose some left-leaning followers because of his
views on gun control, the drug war, and other core issues, The Forward
reported Aug. 22.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence/Million Mom March is urging its
members to vote against Dean because he views gun control mainly as a
state matter.

"Some of our members, including suburban women -- who are going to be
important to any presidential campaign -- have said they were initially
attracted to Dean, but his views on gun control have given them second
thoughts," said Tony Orza, director of government relations for the Brady
Campaign.

Dean also has a poor record when it comes to drug-sentencing reform and
medical marijuana, critics say. "On the two issues that came to his desk
[in Vermont] -- medical marijuana and methadone maintenance -- he went out
of his way to do the wrong thing," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive
director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is expected to gain from any primary votes
lost by Dean.

[Mark Tyson]

Dean apparently doesn't support enough gun prohibition for these extremists.

[tyme]

Good. Let them split the democratic primary vote, risk getting a poor candidate on the november ballot, and generate unrest among democrats who would ordinarily vote for the democratic candidate in the general election. Who knows, if this kind of rhetoric escalates it could even split the democratic party.

[StLGlocker]

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence/Million Mom March is urging its members to vote against Dean

I'm sure he'll lose a lot of sleep over it. How many showed up at that last MMM rally?

4? :neener:

[Standing Wolf]

I don't think Howie has what it takes to be the next Mondale.

[Mark Tyson]

You know, since he's already lost the blissninny vote maybe we can convince him to come over to our side. He's already flip flopped on a couple things, he'd have little to lose. He's probably got less chance of beating Bush anyway compared to some of the others.

[El Tejon]

I'm voting for Carol Mostly Fraud.:D

[Brian Dale]

Or the next ... hey, what was that guy's name? The one in the tank. The only man ever to make a helmet look like doofus-wear. Oh yeah: Dukakis!

Try as I might (and I'll admit that that's not very hard), I just can't seem to remember what Dean's face looks like. I know that I've seen it pictured several times. Maybe he wants to be all things to all people, and I s'pose that forgettability is a predictable result of his whole public persona. :neener:

[TexasVet]

That's funny, he lost my vote because of his stand on gun control, too! of course, I'm agin him 'cause he likes SOME gun control.:neener:

[dustind]

Dozens of people would show up for those early meetings. At the last meeting, a year or so ago, "there were about three," Nanni says.

"Just because it's pretty quiet, doesn't mean we're not doing anything," Velotta says. "The movement's still there."

[Mark Tyson]

"I'm not dead! I'm getting better!"

[Sean Smith]

I don't think Howie has what it takes to be the next Mondale.

Wow. Now THAT'S a slam if there ever was one. :evil:

[RangerHAAF]

Howard Dean is the Democrats best candidate to retake the White House. The perception by a lot of people is that George Bush is seriously responsible for the current economic mess that the country is in. Whether or not it's true is irrelevent because he is the President and the political buck stops with him and the Republican party.

This situation looks like it's shaping up to turn out just like 1991 did. When Bush, Sr. won the 1st Persian Gulf War, he had very high approval ratings at the end of that war but that didn't stop the American people from voting him out of office a few months later in November.

The only major difference between Jr. and Sr. is that Jr. hasn't gone out of his way yet to atagonize gun owners by arbitrarily banning guns by executive order, as his father did; but there is only so much effort that the NRA and gun owners can muster to get him reelected if he keeps going down the road that he's following. He's been a good friend to gun owners but guns are but one big variable in the big political formula that voters will decide on and vote for next November. As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly Bill Clinton wasn't getting nearly as much press attention as Howard Dean is currently getting.

[Mark Tyson]

Maybe there's a silver lining here. With the gun grabbing mommies coming out against him, even if he's elected he won't be indebted to them in any way. If pro-rights congressmen can keep the House & Senate they can stymie any new legislation.

And who knows? Maybe someone can change Dean's mind on the issue so he leans more our way. Hell, write him a letter. It can't hurt.

Hope springs eternal . . .

[Futo Inu]

That's hilarious - if Dean loses because he half-way makes sense on gun control, that will put up someone like Kerry who Shrub can actually beat. More power to those party faithful I say.

[Master Blaster]

DEAN FOR AMERICA: ON THE ISSUES
Sensible Gun Laws
Vermont has the lowest homicide rate in the United States. During my eleven years as
Governor, the highest number of murders in a single year was 25 and the lowest number was
five. Over half of these were domestic assaults, and the majority were not committed with a
firearm.
If you say “gun control” in Vermont or Wyoming, people think it means taking away their
hunting rifle. If you say "gun control" in New York City or Los Angeles, people are relieved at
the prospect of having Uzis or illegal handguns taken off the streets. They’re both right. That’s
why I think Vermont ought to be able to have a different set of laws than California.
I believe the federal gun laws we have—like the Brady Bill—are important, and I would veto any
attempt to repeal or gut them. The Assault Weapons Ban expires next year, and it should be
renewed. Although President Bush has claimed he supports renewing it, he is talking out both
sides of his mouth; his staff has signaled that he doesn’t want or expect Congress to renew the
ban, and that is wrong.
I don’t think we need a lot of new federal laws. But we do need to do a few things at the federal
level, like requiring Insta-Check on all retail and gun show sales. We also must do a better job of
enforcing the laws on the books. President Bush promised to be tough in enforcing gun laws,
but his Administration has prosecuted only about 2% of all gun crimes and they are virtually
ignoring 20 of the 22 major federal gun laws on the books. That is an abysmal record and as
President, I’d make tough enforcement a reality, not just political rhetoric.
After that, I would let the states decide for themselves what, if any, additional gun safety laws
they want. Just as we resist attempts by President Bush to dictate to the states how we run our
school systems and what kind of welfare programs to have, we need to resist attempts to tell
states how to deal with guns beyond existing federal law and fixing a few loopholes and
problems.

[Futo Inu]

Yeah, funny how when the Constitution is working exactly as planned in our federalists system, with the states exercising all general police powers not enumerated to the federal gov't, the liberal media, anti-gunners and whathaveyou decry with ominous tones how the dreaded "patchwork" of laws are sorely inadequate to protect us. The connotations of that word imply inherent inadequacy - it's the war of words, as I've preached before....