The Friday Focus: John McCain

Second Amendment

Like many Iowa conservatives the term lukewarm would be accurate in describing my support of John McCain. Most days he gets my support because he’s simply not Barack Obama. Yesterday however was one of those days were I felt good about supporting John McCain.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision to reaffirm our 2nd Amendment Rights, John McCain came out firing saying that Chicago’s Gun Ban infringes on peoples basic rights. Talk about the perfect way for McCain to capitalize on the court’s decision. Obama fired back with “what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne.”

Obama said if elected president, he would uphold the rights of gun owners, really?
As McCain pointed out Obama was one of the few Senators who didn’t sign a bipartisan amicus brief supporting the ruling later issued by the Supreme Court. That should tell 2nd Amendment voters all they need to know about Obama.

Then there is his response to a 1996 Independent Voters of Illinois questionnaire where Obama indicated that he supported banning the “Manufacture, Sale and Possession of Handguns.”

Question from a 1996 Independent Voters of Illinois questionnaire: “Do you support state legislation to … ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?” Obama’s answer: “Yes.” (Independent Voters Of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization 1996 General Candidate Questionnaire, Barack Obama Responses, 9/9/96)

Obama’s aides have said everything from saying he never filled out the survey to an aide filled it out, to the writing on it is not his. Excuse me while I have a Nussle flashback…

Obama spent yesterday afternoon sharing the same talking points as Nancy Pelosi, he isn’t a champion of the 2nd Amendment.

The McCain campaign did a great job of capitalizing on the Supreme Court’s decision and showing the American people the difference between him and Obama.

Iowa’s 1st… for the wrong reason.

Chris Cillizza (whose tombstone will say “To the Line”) has a list of the 10 most likely states are most likely to switch its presidential voting preference. Iowa wins the top spot. This is a great write up and a must read. Cillizza notes that one of the reasons McCain will struggle here is that McCain hasn’t invested much in his 2 caucus campaigns in the state. I don’t blame him for his actions in 2007, but his decision to stick it to Iowa in the 2000 campaign has haunted his campaign ever since.

Today’s Must Read

Cillizza just missed out to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal. Who writes a great column about McCain’s chances and why there is hope for Republican’s this fall.