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GUNS

Clinton to Democrats: Don't 'Patronize' Gun Owners

And don't stand with Obama on guns, if you value re-election

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: AP

Democrats risk further alienating Republicans by talking down to them about gun culture, Bill Clinton warned at a private meeting this weekend. "Do not patronize the passionate supporters of your opponents by looking down your nose at them," Clinton warned.

He warned Democratic donors and financiers that their candidates would risk electoral defeat if they stand with Obama and back gun control.

Clinton then gave a laundry list of examples of how high-profile Democrats - himself included - got themselves tarred as anti-gun and alienated rural voters.

"A lot of these people...all they've got is their hunting and their fishing," said Clinton, referring to rural voters. "Or they're living in a place where they don't have much police presence. Or they've been listening to this stuff for so long that they believe it all."

Via the Blaze and Politico.
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Is Clinton right - are Dems at risk of 'patronizing' gun owners?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • o
    thejimbo
    !
    Sorry Clinton, but your sincere concern's in regards to the TEA PARTY becoming reinvigorated is past tense. It's never stopped. Yes ''' the movement is quiet, and quite frankly Billy boy it's none of the lefts or your damn business. However, know this-- many new players are jumping on-board. Some who once "regrettably" were staunch supporter's of your's and actually have work with you and a few were on your payroll.

    and the stories being told about you and your connections with I l l uminati /B i l d e r berg's TSK, TSK !

    Obama needs to remember, just like with the liberals-- 190 million gun's and counting,
    be careful with all these false flag's, and "your arrogance" because if you push the American people into a civil war, it won't be just the civilian's kicking your sorry @$$'s but our Arm Forces wont tolerate your commie B.S. either. Yes, many are waking-up to the tyranny this country has succumb too. N W O gave us Obama, but not enough of you to stop us.......... We the People.
  • harold_lloyd
    !
    Thankfully you are wrong. There are fewer teabaggers in the House this term, and with any luck at all, after the 2014 elections there will be fewer still.
  • harold_lloyd
    !
    Oh, and your 190 million guns...How long would you hold out against a SWAT team, or a platoon of infantry?
    All those guns are like insurance, they make you feel better, but they won't stop you from losing what matters to you.
  • DARSB
    !
    Having cost the GOP Senate control and the White House it's unlikely the TeaParty (AKA the same poor shmucks who get exploited by establishment conservatives every election cycle) will have much future influence.

    As for that Red Dawn fantasy, well don't be upset when you're the only one in the room thinking you're Patrick Swayze.

  • View all 47 replies >

  • u
    Altonroe
    !
    The more they try to control the gun issue the more they increase the chance that there will be a Republican president next election.
  • WMCOL
    !
    @Altonroe
    True. That's why Clinton is right. I'm a liberal and Democrat but will not vote for anyone who promotes more restrictions on gun rights.

    85% of nation opposes more restrictions on right to keep and bear arms. Clue: Republicans are only about 40% of population.
  • u
    Altonroe
    !
    @WMCOL I must agree about the 40 percent Republicans because I have looked at the chart showing the number of emigrants coming to live in the USA. Can't blame them for doing it. I thought I would like to live in Australia until I watched testimonies from those people that live there. They don't have the right to own a gun. Violence is going up. Every where I look I see that if the people don't own guns the crime increases.
  • dances-weebles
    !
    @Altonroe here's what it says about gun ownership rights in australia:(if you read it you'll have to note that the more stringent laws on firearms ownership were a direct result of a rise in crime. having an armed populace had never reduced crime rates, but in fact tends to result in exactly the opposite effect.

    'Gun politics have only become a notable issue in Australia since the 1980s. Low levels of violent crime through much of the 20th century kept levels of public concern about firearms low. However, in the last two decades of the century, following several high profile multiple murders and a media campaign, the Australian government co-ordinated more restrictive firearms legislation with all state governments. Australia today has arguably some of the most restrictive firearms legislation in the world.

    Currently, about 5.2% of Australian adults (765,000 people)[1] own and use firearms for purposes such as hunting, controlling feral animals, collecting, and target shooting.'
  • WMCOL
    !
    @dances-weebles
    >>>several high profile multiple murders and a media campaign<<<

    Seems the restriction on guns was based on politics and a media campaign, not on increased gun related crime. Sounds like the mistake some are trying to make here. Too bad Australia did not have a Constitutional Amendment to protect the gun rights of its citizens.

  • View all 48 replies >

  • marine1
    !
    So now those of us who choose to live in small communities and rural ares have become ,"these people"? Clinton is a smart guy but I don't think he gets it either. All people in all areas want to feel safe in their homes and on the streets they walk. The large metropolitan areas are the showcases for violence, both with and without guns and the worst of these cities are controlled by democratic administrations that choose to ignore everything and anything as the cause, other than the gun.
  • WMCOL
    !
    Don't know how much more clear Bill could be. He is against gun control, and is encouraging Democrats to be likewise.
  • harold_lloyd
    !
    Here's some novel ideas for you.

    Every politician, no matter what party, thinks of you as 'these people'.
    No politician is on your side.
    No politician cares about you after the election.
    Until the next one.
  • marine1
    !
    @WMCOL Nowhere did Clinton imply that he is not agaist gun controll. What he said was don't voice your true opinions on the subject like he did or it could cost you your job.
  • marine1
    !
    @mtkopf golly gee, I just don't what i'ma gonna do, I'll probably be scared for life or at least 37 seconds.

  • View all 33 replies >

  • Fishbone345
    !
    Patronizing, probably.
    One thing is for certain, he is letting us know that his Bromance with Obama is over huh? Time to start campaignin' for the wifey!

  • View all 10 replies >

  • PNWest
    !
    The Big Dog is right. No good will come out of trying to do gun control right now. The NRA is too strong. But given they way they are gunning each other down at the "Appreciate Guns" rallies maybe they will kill enough of themselves off that we can address the issue seriously in a few years.
  • MadAmerican
    !
    It's not the NRA that is strong, it is the lawabiding American citizen, both democrat and republican that sees the government once again restricting rights of the majority, instead of the woeful knee jerk reaction for personal gain upon reaction from a sensationalized press.
  • u
    dkpayton
    !
    @MadAmerican well this is one dem that will never vote dem again ever...i live in a small town and the support for the dems are droping like flies...come on 2014
  • u
    tomincali
    !
    these same people against gun owners do not realize a huge part of gun owners are those they cannot live without. farmers and ranchers most of the time have guns on hand,take their guns, how about they stop selling their products to those who are against guns.

    these folks very well could do a boy cott of their own .as long as their own needs are met why should they care if anti-gun folks eat or not?
  • Medicinebow
    !
    People should take note about what our politicians stand for. Most likely one of them screaming the loudest for gun control will attempt to become president next time around. Its difficult to take any of them for their word. Even Romney, who was supported by the NRA got plenty of gun control measures passed while governor.
  • u
    CommonSense
    !
    @MadAmerican
    Guns tend to be a single issue to people moreso than healthcare, so there's likely to be a lot of people who voted Republican over the guns issue who otherwise would've voted Democrat. Had those people been voting Democrat then it would have been easier earlier to drum up support for health care reform measures.
    Maybe not as much as single payer but we would probably have a better version of Obamacare or it would've happened earlier.
  • RedFloppyShoes
    !
    He would know. He turned his back on the people of Arkansas and their way of life, when he went into the Presidency as a bleeding heart Progresive. Though he learned by his second term, if history wanted to treat him well, he needed to amend his opposition view.
  • DARSB
    !
    Historically Democrats have shown a genius for gaining power and then pissing it all away. Mr Clinton is right to caution his peers against hubris, but I'm confident they'll manage to exercise their 2nd amendment rights to shoot themselves in both feet.
  • Fishbone345
    !
    @marine1 Good. Both sides are contributing to the ills of this country, and alas people keep contributing to them doing so by continually voting them back into office.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    Ya know, I thought about this for a long time....oh about 28 seconds. I think it's high time we experiment with some form of gun control (ok, well gun ban). All major cities (say, population over 250,000) will have an experimental gun ban. Only LEO's (and of course....criminals) can have guns within that major city. It can be a 5 year experiment! Then, after this experimental ban, we can re-visit this gun ban and see how's it going. What do you people in these "major" cities think?
  • Medicinebow
    !
    Your "experiment" is pretty much happening right now. D.C. tried this for 30+ years. Could we just study those results? Interestingly enough I have a copy of a newspaper article from the Wash. Post where a Dr. captured an intruder who was pistol whipping a 91 year old man. The Dr. is posing with the weapon he used to stop the crime. Had this occured during the ban they would have put my Great Grandfather in jail for having that gun. Gun control is a failing proposition.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    @Medicinebow HMMM........democrats seem to have "control" of the most major urban areas. Liberal Democrats want gun control (and maybe a ban). This was sarcasm to give the liberal democrats in major urban THEIR gun control....get it now?
  • WMCOL
    !
    All Clinton is saying is government by the people, of the people, for the people, but within the bounds of the Constitution and law. Same way he did. It is the only way it can be. If the majority wants something and it COMPLIES WITH CONSTITUTION AND LAW, they should get it. The alternative for the majority is to change the Constitution and even that process must comply with the Constitution and law so that this nations rule-of-law is always the mechanism and never mob rule..
  • Real4WheelDrv
    !
    No, what he's SAYING is that passionate gun owners are all "rural types" more liberal codespeak for braindead hicks. He warns Democrats not to talk down to them...WHILE talking down to them. "All they have is hunting and fishing"...really? Sorry, some of the most passionate gun advocates I know have good educations and work in technical fields, but nice work on the broad brush.
  • WMCOL
    !
    @Real4WheelDrv
    Nah, that's condescending and patronizing. Bill is way smarter than you are allowing. He knows Democrats who are "passionate" about their guns. Lots of them, as he is from a state where there are many.

    What the right is gonna have to get over is the fact that there is no shortage of Democrats who are avid gun owners. I see them all the time at shooting ranges in Oklahoma and Texas. Proud Democrats who love their guns.
  • Real4WheelDrv
    !
    @stephen But more often than not he has publicly supported him to put forward a good face to the party and to the country, so he is in effect being as disingenuous as he wants the other Dems to be.
  • u
    Center
    !
    @stephen I think his hour long convention speech defending him along with campaigning with him the last month to the point of losing his voice says otherwise. Obama's gun solution is to the right of Clinton. The only thing they disagree about is the assault weapons ban because Clinton passed it and was full of holes. I don't support that ban as it is every Americans right to blow away as many people as possible as quickly as possibly before committing suicude. I support 1000 bullet feeding ammunition clip opposed to the 100 gun Drum in Aurora. I believe there should be 1000 guns for every fictitious black helicopter that's coming for my gun.I have serious doubt that Clinton opposed Obama in the election, Obama may not have won. Clinton defended him in the convention and in public over the Republicans that complemented Clinton over Obama in ads. we need 1,000,000 more Wayne LaPierre and Alex Jones along with the man who who says he will fire the first shot if the government knocks on his door because that is the second Amendment.. I think the 40 percent gun show loophole should be expanded to 100 percent loophole and lunatics should be able to carry bazookas and military style weapons everywhere without exception. Every weapon should have assault caliber bullets that can rip through armor because that is the American way and the Second Amendment. I hope Congress keeps its law on allowing terrorist on the no fly list to purchase guns especially in straw gun buys. As terrorists, they still have the same Second Amendment right as felons should have.
  • u
    Center
    !
    @Real4WheelDrv everything Clinton does now is to walk the fine between supporting Obama and laying the groundwork for Hillary
    in 2016. Hillary can't share the all the same views as Obama if she runs.A lot depends on how Obama does in the next 3 years for her to either distance herself or mirror many of his policies. John McCain in 2008 couldn't mention bush 3 * in the mirror before bush appeared as the evil son of a bitch he was. This isn't a partisan observation as Bush was toxic to both parties and why he was for virtually absent in the Romney campaign.

    There is no doubt that Bill Clinton disliked Obama for the simple fact that he ran against Hillary. Making Hillary Secretary of State helped heal the process and even towards the end of the first Obama campaign, Bill was on his side at least publicly.

    If Hillary runs in 2016, it is probable that Bill Clinton will say some negative things about Obama in order for him to return to the White House even as First Man.

    There is no doubt in my mind that Bill Clinton wanted Obama in 2012 for 2 reasons. I am not sure which was more important but having a bush trickle down economic plan would have doomed the country and Hillary would have a much harder time running against an incumbent republican than an open primary.
  • u
    XLP
    !
    I can speak a little Democrat/Progressive BS....So let me translate... He is basically saying be a politician and lie enough about how you really feel to get re-elected. Instead of revealing the mis-informed retard socialists you really are.
  • ConserveUSA
    !
    I am going to say this: There are so much about gun control but most the same people who are gun control are for the Murdering of Innocent Babies by Abortion and Murdering of Handicapped People. You say you are for gun control to protect people lives but you the "pro-choicer" support the works of Adam Lanza. The so-called Dr. Jocelyn Elders who was at Arkansas' Capitol is an outright Adam Lanza Supporter. Pro-Choice = Pro-Adam Lanza. I know I am up for critics from Liberals and I love you and I am praying for you.
    Pro-Abortion People are for the eliminating of Native Americans, Latinos, and African American People. President Obama does not support Dr. King's Legacy and/or his Cause.
  • FollowTheMoney
    !
    " Gun Nuts" are few and far between. Their not really a factor. Gun owners on the other hand come in all shades of political ideology. Democrats need to listen to Slick Willie if they want to keep their salaries and pensions.
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