From best-rkba@mainstream.com Tue Nov 22 08:10:08 1994 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.9/8.6.5) with ESMTP id IAA19373; Tue, 22 Nov 1994 08:10:07 -0800 Received: from n8ino.mainstream.com (n8ino.mainstream.com [192.231.143.2]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.9/8.6.5) with ESMTP id IAA13801; Tue, 22 Nov 1994 08:10:01 -0800 Received: from (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by n8ino.mainstream.com (8.6.5/8.6.5) with SMTP id KAA27704; Tue, 22 Nov 1994 10:10:43 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 10:10:43 -0500 Message-Id: <199411221510.KAA27704@n8ino.mainstream.com> Errors-To: listproc@Mainstream.com Reply-To: best-rkba@Mainstream.com Originator: best-rkba@mainstream.com Sender: best-rkba@Mainstream.com Precedence: bulk From: best-rkba@Mainstream.com To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: BEST-RKBA digest 149 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Right to Keep and Bear Arms "Best of" list Status: RO BEST-RKBA Digest 149 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) MEDIA: transcript of NPR's All Things Considered piece by aland@informix.com (Alan Denney) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Topic No. 1 Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 23:51:59 +0800 From: aland@informix.com (Alan Denney) To: best-rkba@mainstream.com Cc: aland@ten_forward.informix.com Subject: MEDIA: transcript of NPR's All Things Considered piece Message-ID: <9411220751.AA01950@ten_forward.informix.com> For those who missed it, I transcribed my tape of ATC's piece a week ago Friday (I think) where they try to analyze the NRA's impact on the election results. Just FYI. See where your CPB tax dollars are going? -- Alan Denney aland@informix.com {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland On 11/19/94, a Saturday Night Live sketch made reference to "armor piercing dum-dum bullets". Anybody know where to buy these? All Things Considered 11/18/94 Cheryl Duvall segment on NRA's election impact ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------- (Linda Worthimer (?) introduction) ------------------------- In this week's election, there were several extremely influential special interest groups which spent money in campaign(ing) for their candidates, like the National Rifle Association. That organization was angered by the passage of the Brady Bill, the Clinton Crime Bill, and the ban on assault weapons. Its contributions, some in the final days of the campaign, produced impressive results for the Gun Lobby. Among its priority campaigns, all but one of their US House or Senate candidates won their elections, and most of the candidates the NRA targeted for defeat went down. NPR's Cheryl Duvall reports. -------------------------- Cheryl Duvall ---------------------------------- In a year that saw the most expensive midterm campaigning in history, the National Rifle Association aimed carefully, spent strategically, and, in most cases, hit its target. Neal Knox is Second Vice President of the National (sic) NRA. (Neal Knox speaking) "It was a great election day for our candidates". One of the many races in which a small but timely expenditure by the NRA had some influence was in Washington State, where Republican newcomer George Nethercutt defeated US House Speaker Thomas Foley in the (Washington's) Fifth district. Facing reporters Wednesday with his wife Heather, Foley conceded before the absentee ballots were all counted. "I know the thrill of election, as well as the honor of service, and so I want to say on behalf of Heather and myself, that we understand the thrill that George Nethercutt and his family are experiencing today." Gun issues were *not* the decisive factor in this campaign. Foleys' 30-year tenure in Washington, his alliance with President Clinton, and his lawsuit against the citizens of his district all played a part in his defeat. But a barrage of anti-Foley advertisements paid for by the NRA shortly before the election probably helped propel his opponents to the polls. Ellen Miller of the Center for Responsive Politics says that in this and other races, timing was key. (Ellen Miller Speaking): "In this election cycle, they seem to have targeted a number of races and spent a quite a bit of money, particularly in the last few days, targeting people who voted against them on their legislative agenda in this last Congress. The NRA vowed to 'get those people', those are *their* words, and by running independent censure ads, they clearly went after them, and it clearly made a difference." The most recent Federal Election Commission filing indicates that the NRA spent $3.2 million nationwide this election, $1.5 Million on political ads alone. The organization, with millions of members nationwide, endorsed candidates in 276 House and Senate races, but it concentrated its spending on 24. Some NRA money also went to defeat ballot initiatives like proposed handgun bans in Kenosha and Milwaukee, WI. Nearly 1/5 of the money, $76,000, was spent on behalf of Representative Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. At sportsmens' clubs, gun dealerships, and hunting lodges, the NRA distributed brochures blasting the pro-gun-control record of Democratic incumbent Senator Harris Walford, who lost by two percentage points. Neal Knox of the NRA says there are simple criteria for choosing which candidates to back. (Neal Knox speaking) "There was no quid pro quo. NRA doesn't make deals, they don't 'buy' legislators, they *support* legislators or would-be legislators who support them and their membership." Concentrated NRA spending didn't always work. The organization spent $47,000 against New Mexico's Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, who won reelection. Sometimes the NRA achieved its desired result by keeping a low profile. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas, a 21-term incumbent and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, had maintained a perfect voting record with the NRA. The organization withdrew its support when Brooks, like Foley, voted in favor of the Crime Bill. In this week's election, the NRA endorsed neither Democrat Brooks nor his opponent, Republican accountant Steve Stockman. Stockman won. Still, Ellen Miller of the Center for Responsive Politics believes the NRA exercised a proportionately greater influence this election cycle than did other interest groups which didn't spend as much, or as strategically. (Ellen Miller Speaking): "Not every one, not every group, not every interest in this country has the kind of money at their disposal that the NRA has, and so what it does is really create a unlevel playing field on which those who have money to spend in this way have an opportunity to sway voters from one position to another position." But the gun lobby, famously tenacious on its issues, would reply that it is only working within the political process as any concerned citizens should, by supporting its friends, punishing its enemies, and rallying its constituency. I'm Cheryl Duvall, reporting. -------------------------- End of Segment ---------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of BEST-RKBA Digest 149 ***************************