Is the NRA’s message backfiring?

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/is_the_nras_message_backfiring_partner/

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 03:17 PM EST
Is the NRA’s message backfiring?
A new national survey reveals that the organization is less popular with Americans than it's ever been
By Jamelle Bouie, The American Prospect
This article originally appeared on The American Prospect.


Last month, I noted the extent to which the National Rifle Association was digging a hole for itself by hewing to the most extreme rhetoric in its arsenal. Rather than quietly agree to sensible reforms — like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks — the NRA has taken a maximalist position on gun control, pushing the view that safety requires a gun in every home and a holster on every belt.

True to form, this approach has backfired in the court of public opinion, as ordinary Americans — who otherwise support the Second Amendment — recoil from the extreme rhetoric of the NRA and its supporters. To wit, the latest national survey from Public Policy Polling shows that the organization has lost cachet with a good number of Americans. Thirty-nine percent say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate with the NRA’s endorsement, compared to 26 percent who say they would be more likely. Among independents, 41 percent consider the NRA’s endorsement a negative, while 27 percent say it’s a plus.

The NRA’s broader popularity is in line with these results. Last month’s poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal show the organization with 41 percent approval to 34 percent disapproval, a decline from January 2011, when the NRA’s approval/disapproval stood at 41/29.

I’m still skeptical about the odds for new gun control legislation. Yes, the NRA is less popular than it’s ever been, and yes, the administration has continued its push for new gun restrictions, but tragedies — for as much as they capture the public’s attention — rarely build momentum for actual change. If Newtown proves the exception, it will be because of its unique horror and the mistakes of gun advocates, who weren’t able to adjust their rhetoric to a new landscape.

[Bjorn Against]

1. So much for the talking point that Gun Control will cost Democrats votes

Polls consistently show wide public support for gun control yet the gungeon dwellers still insist gun control will cost Democrats votes. The reality however seems to be that those who support gun control have an electoral advantage over NRA candidates. This is not 1994.

[bemildred]

2. It's the money, the NRA is money, not lots of votes.

And they spent boxcars of money last time and it didn't work. That's the NRA's problem now. There are some other conservative power brokers with the same problem. They lose one or two more elections, and they are going to not be power brokers any more. They are in a must win situation, and all their political weapons have stopped working.

[madrchsod]

3. i`d say it blew up in their face

they did`t do crap in the last election. now they have become an organization on the wrong side of the american people. they`ll slink back into their hole and lick their wounds.they`ll come back out with the same old message of hate

[babylonsister]

4. I think you're right; their 'same old message' isn't working, and they

have nothing to fall back on; evolving isn't in their DNA. Lose/lose for them.