Watching the former Club for Growth President, now-Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) pretzel himself into being not-completely-a-Republican has been one of the more amusing aspects of this election. He's been in an extremely tight race—now trailing by a point in HuffPost's poll aggregate—against Democrat Kathy McGinty. In order to win, he has to convince Pennsylvania voters that he's not a "tea party favorite" anymore.
Toomey, for his part, is trying not to anger anyone in the state too much. He needs to retain Trump supporters while limiting his losses in the overwhelmingly Democratic parts of the state in and around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where Trump is an albatross. Thus, he has half-embraced Trump, and is emphasizing his bipartisan work on guns. […]
Toomey […] got $1.4 million in ad support from the NRA in 2010 — the most of any candidate that year — when he first won election to the Senate. The NRA in 2016 has not endorsed Toomey, remaining silent so far on the race.
Toomey has, however, gotten the misguided endorsement of some anti-gun groups, including Gabby Giffords’ group, Americans for Responsible Solutions. Maybe they should ponder the fact that the NRA is just staying silent, and not actually out denouncing Toomey for his half-measures for gun-safety. Spoiler alert: it's because they don't see him as a threat to their supremacy in the GOP.
Toomey might have gotten the backing of some of the anti-gun groups who ultimately don't want to rock the boat too far, but that doesn't mean he's going to be on their side when the chips are down, or that he's not going to be voting for Mitch McConnell—who is securely in the NRA's pocket—as his leader in the Senate. That's what matters.
Can you chip in $3 to Katie McGinty to send Pat Toomey packing?