He claims to have come up with a fourteen-point plan to fight gun violence. Oddly, it is hard to find an actual list of the fourteen points. So I had to do my best with theFailing New York Times.
He is calling for a ban on bump-stocks. Cool. That has already been done.
He is calling for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He also wants to prohibit anyone from buying more than a certain number of guns at a time. (Estate sale? Matched dueling pistols?)
Maybe you like these ideas. Cool. But Senator Booker is unelectable. South Carolina will be the most important primary. He is writing it off, so he will not even become the nominee.
If he did get on the ticket, his ideas on guns would cost him many rural voters.
Does it matter? The kinds of people who latch onto their guns (white people who fear multiculturalism) think every democrat will take their guns and they aren’t voting for a democrat anyway.
South Carolina is but one primary, and besides, most of the voters in that primary will probably agree with at least some of his positions on firearms. And in the general, they could agree with his positions on firearms and still not vote for him.
I agree that Booker is probably a long shot at best to win the nomination. He is so far struggling to carve out an identity. That said, it’s way too early to tell one way or another.
The thesis here seems to be that a Democratic nominee calling for any tighter gun control is unelectable, in both the general and in a Democratic primary.
South Carolinians want to be able to own guns … and they recognize that their right to do so is not threatened by regulations aimed at big weapons designed to kill many fast, at preventing people like Dylan Roof from easily getting weapons, at gun traffickers.
Gun control won’t be an issue that wins South Carolina. But it isn’t an issue that loses it now either.
Booker needs some hook to stand out of the crowd, a focus that others are not putting the spotlight on. Guns are his … shot in the dark.
You really think Cory Booker had a chance of winning the rural southern vote?
If you want to be cynical this could work for Booker. Gun control is a controversial issue so he’ll get media attention with it. And he can stake out a strong position on the issue. Once he’s done that, every school shooting wins him votes. And we’re currently averaging a school shooting every two weeks.
He doesn’t stand a chance if he won’t show up. He has made a few stops over the last couple of months. But to stand out he will need to make appearances all over the state. If he really has decided to write SC off then other candidates will gather the votes and momentum.
It is this sort of thinking that leads to the election or re-election of scum like Trump.
There are millions of Americans, with opinions fitting all along a bell curve — no, make that several different bell curves, on several different issues.
Some who “fear multiculturalism” might nevertheless vote for a black. Some who like guns might vote for a liberal, at least if the liberal isn’t “in their face” with his/her dogmatic hatred of guns. Reject all the “rednecks of Middle America” and prepare to never win a national election again.
What I’m saying is that I agree that Booker probably won’t win, but not really for the reasons you think. Has nothing to do with his position on guns, but more to do with getting out of Biden’s, Sanders’, and Harris’ shadows.
I agree that Booker isn’t going to win the nomination. It has more to do with that there is little that he has to offer that someone else doesn’t offer the same. There’s a certain connectivity that he just seems to lack.
None of this has anything to do with guns. Every election we hear “if only Democrats would start toeing the NRA line, they’d win more elections.” I say that’s rubbish. If you’re a single-issue gun “rights” voter, you vote R up and down the ballot every single time. I don’t care if a Democrat sculpts a statue of LaPierre and kneels before it in prayer, these voters are never going to trust a Democrat about guns and will vote Republican forever. It’s a waste of time going after these voters and costs them votes of those who don’t worship guns.
Really? If so, is that more proof of Democratic masochism?
While I’m certainly in favor of pandering to the gun-crazed racist ignoramuses of Pennsylvania, Michigan and even Ohio, North Carolina and Iowa, I think the opinions of voters in shit-holes like Alabama and South Carolina should be treated as irrelevant. Politely, of course.
Sorry. Any allusion to the KKK was accidental and embarrassing. Not trying for edginess, more a comment on cynicism. But, yeah, agree a warning is appropriate for the (accidental) KKK thing.
I disagree with the premise of this OP. If the GOP can win without the support of people with the math skills to understand that tax cuts don’t pay for themselves and aren’t fooled by 89% of the tax cut dollars going to the top 1%, Dems can win without gun nuts.
I don’t think it’s Booker deciding to write South Carolina off. I think it’s more like Booker being aware that South Carolina has already decided to write him off and that no amount of personal appearances will change that decision.
And this is one of the problems of our political system. You might be a candidate who appeals to a majority of the voters in the country. But if you don’t appeal to a majority of the voters in South Carolina, you won’t make it on the ballot. The two percent of our country’s voters who live in South Carolina shouldn’t be deciding the outcome of presidential races. How would South Carolina voters feel if their candidates had to be pre-approved by New York?
Keep guns out of the wrong hands with gun licensing:
… Here’s how it would work: Individuals could seek a gun license at a designated local office, widely available in urban and rural areas, similar to applying for or renewing a passport. They would submit fingerprints, provide basic background information, and demonstrate completion of a certified gun safety course.
**Bring real regulation and oversight to gun manufacturers:…
End legal immunity that prevents victims of gun violence from seeking justice:**While civil liability can be applied to sellers and manufacturers of nearly every product, as a result of a 2005 law the gun industry is immune from nearly all lawsuits. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) allows the gun industry to ignore public safety implications of the misuse of their products, such as gun trafficking.
Cory will fight to end gun industry immunity by repealing PLCAA and allow victims of gun violence to have their day in court when a gun dealer or manufacturer has acted negligently.
Require handgun microstamping:… Close the “Boyfriend Loophole”:…
Ensure a background check on every gun sale by closing the loophole on guns show and online sales and the so-called “Charleston Loophole”:…
Ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks:Provide dedicated funding for research on gun violence as a public health issue:…
Modernize and strengthen the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF):…
Support extreme risk prevention order laws:…
Limit gun buyers to one handgun per month:…
Require firearm owners to report lost or stolen firearms:…
Ramp up funding for community-based violence intervention programs:…
Increase trauma support for survivors and communities impacted by gun violence:
Call on the IRS to conduct an investigation into the NRA’s tax status:…
Finally, beginning on Day One in office, Cory will take executive action to build on ongoing efforts and take concrete steps forward — closing dangerous loopholes in gun sales, cracking down on unscrupulous dealers and gun manufacturers, and investing in communities impacted by gun violence."