Dems need more photos like this one of Knowles

I know many of us are uneasy about supporting the ownership of firearms, if not downright unopposed.  It's not my intention to start that debate right now.  My own position is probably slightly left of Howard Dean's:  That states should have the latitude to enact whatever gun control legislation they feel they need, but that new laws are probably needed to curtail the movement of firearms accross state lines.

Having said that, I wanted Kosacks to take a look at a picture in today's email from Tony Knowles (Alaska Dem Senate candidate).  Kos thought he looked like Tomy Lee Jones before.  This is right out of "The Fugitive".  This picture is political gold.  If all our candidates could be captured on camera like this, we really could win in red states.  I am more certain than ever before that my money on Tony is in the right place.  This guy is a winner.

Here's the pic:
http://www.tonyknowles.com/images/emails/TonyGunShow.jpg

Sorry for making everyone click.  I don't know how to post the picture directly.  If someone would help me with that below, I would be much obliged!

•  email text

  I forgot to post the caption from the photo:

  Gunning for Votes at the Great Alaska Sportsman Show, Tony Knowles shows off his unique Russian "LOS-7" rifle to hunter Ray Wells. The 7.62 mm hunting rifle was given to him by the late Gov. Igor Farkhutdinov of Russia's Sakhalin Province.

  by steina on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 08:34:05 PM PDT

•  Yeah he does look like

  Tommy Lee Jones.  :-X

  I don't see touting Democratic and liberal ownership and understanding of firearms as a bad thing.  Quite the contrary.  :-)

  by Viktor on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 08:36:37 PM PDT

•  When I saw this heading, I thought

  you'd linked to a nude photo of Tony or something. I said to myself, "that WOULD get donations in."

  He's the first guy I've seen in a while that looked good in a flannel shirt. Maybe cause most of the guys I know who wear flannel shirts have big pot bellies and yesterday's lunch in their beard.

  Ben Chandler had photos of himself in hunter gear ("Ben has an A rating from the NRA"), but although I think it's critical that Democratic candidates be allowed to be as pro-gun as they want to be (we will start cleaning up in some Southern states if we take away some of the NRA vote and the slim number of people who vote on guns even though they aren't anti-gay or anti-choice), Ben had his gun pointed in the air, his clothes were 2 sizes too big, and he looked like he was going to shoot a rubber chicken out of the sky or something. Tony looks very at home.

  The question is will this be enough against the well-funded and somewhat popular Murkowski. I'm not sure.
  

  by JamesB3 on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 08:37:27 PM PDT

  •  Update please

    It seems like Tony is well-funded and popular, too.  Am I wrong?  How big of a deal is the Murkowski nepotism issue?  The early polling I saw (and I haven't seen any recently) had Knowles ahead by a decent margin...

    by steina on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 08:46:40 PM PDT

    •  Close: Knowles 45%, Murky 42%

      Ivan Moore Research (D) for KTUU-TV:
      

       
      

      	Knowles (D)	Murky (R)	Sykes (Green)
      2/25-27/04	45	42	2
      1/27-31/04	45	41	3
      7/03	52	40	n/a

      Phew! That was some effort to type in.  There must be some easier way of posting tables...?  I couldn't link to it, because I got the data from a subscription-only site.

      What's the best way of pasting an html table into a kos entry?

      by Winger on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 09:00:01 PM PDT

      •  aoeu

        You could view source and copy the html code

        by TealVeal on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 09:09:07 PM PDT

        •  Thanks

          Tried that, but it made a horrible mess.  (They had all kinds of style/format stuff that kos choked on.)

          Someone else did just mention the idea of pasting it into Excel as text, then exporting that as an html table, which I can paste into kos... maybe that convoluted route will work.

          PS I see lots of people post "aoeu" in their subject line around here on kos.  Does it mean something like "yuk"?

          by Winger on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 11:06:53 PM PDT

      •  Knowles

        I know Knowles is one of the democrat's "stars" this year, but any democrat in Alaska has one hell of a time winning.

        Knowles won the governor's office in 1994 with something like 43 or 44%, but less than 1000 votes. In his reelection in 1998, and against one republican who was being investigated for corruption and another republican who ran as a write-in, he only captured 51%.

        He has a very tough road ahead, especially since he only began the race with 52%, and polling now shows he is at 45%. Also of concern, there is a green candidate on the ballot.

        The two red states where I think Democrats stand a better chance of winning a Senate seat are in Colorado and Oklahoma.
        

        by SoonerSig on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 10:32:43 PM PDT

        •  Exactly, it's very sad

          There's just almost no way we can win that seat. But I'm not sure if we can in OK (against Coburn, who's very popular) or Colorado (against a far-right population and tons and tons of GOP money).

          by JamesB3 on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 09:45:57 AM PDT

          •  Oklahoma

            On the outside, I can see how Oklahoma can look very daunting for a Democrat. But being from Brad Carson's district, I can tell you this man is extremely popular in his democratic district. Coburn's popularity is exaggerated.  I read his book, and there are very few republicans he doesn't attack by name. He annoyed the republican establishment while he was in Congress, and they sure as hell won't rush to his aid. Coburn is about as extreme as they come.

            Perceived popularity in Oklahoma will only get you so far...ask Governor Steve Largent.
            

            by SoonerSig on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 10:00:57 AM PDT

            •  Didn't Henry only win because of a

              third-party candidate who siphoned some of Largent's votes?

              What concerns me about Coburn is that he will fire up the wingnut base. They will turn out in huge numbers, whereas they may not with Humphreys. And when you add in that Oklahoma is more of a right-wing state, they will be more likely to go towards the Republican, especially if he has a fiery style and a lot of money, as Coburn will.

              by JamesB3 on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 12:40:54 PM PDT

              •  Coburn

                See, I think its totally the opposite.

                The right-wing nuts vote no matter what in Oklahoma. If you're a registered GOPer in OK, you're going to vote...they are the true holy-rollers. The reason why OK still has a 56% Dem. registration is because in almost 70 counties (out of 77) the county officer races (such as Sheriffs and Commissioners...which trust me, are a bloodsport in this state), are decided in the Democratic Primary. So I just don't see how Coburn could fire up that base anymore.

                Plus, I think money could be more of a difficult problem for Coburn, than Humphreys. Humphreys has tons of business connections across the state, and typical Republican money flows, and would continue to flow, to Humphreys. I can't see that happening if Coburn got the nod. Coburn opposes almost everything the government does, and lots of the business types won't neccesiarly support him.

                Oklahoma is a tough state for Democrats. But they do win. Henry only got 43%, but his approval rating is above 60%.

                Carson will be a strong candidate. He's been endorsed by the NRA in past elections and the Chamber of Commerce. And with Campbell retiring from Colorado, Carson would be the only Native American in the Senate.

                by SoonerSig on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 01:20:43 PM PDT

                •  I hope it all works out.

                  Is Bush beloved in OK? Are a lot of people going to vote based on whoever is in his party?

                  Is Carson's House seat going to go to a Dem?

                  by JamesB3 on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 02:51:05 PM PDT

                  •  Boren

                    Oh yeah, the house seat was designed only to elect a democrat...they jammed almost every democrat they could into it. For being a very rural area, it is, for whatever reason, die-hard democratic area. But the Dems in the 2nd are very pro-life, religious, and strongly support gun rights.

                    Dan Boren, son of fmr. Gov and Senator David Boren, will probably win the nomination in july with over 50% (therefore not needing an August runoff) and will win anywhere between 65-70% in November.

                    by SoonerSig on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 09:05:34 PM PDT

    •  knowles is ahead

      as of the last poll I saw (in Feb), but it had a high-ish MoE and his lead wasn't much. I think it's a little odd to call Murkowski 'popular', though - her positives are under 50% and her negatives are in the mid-30s. More people like her than don't, but not by much.

      by cyclopatra on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 09:04:00 PM PDT

      •  She's a Republican in AK,

        and she may not be loved, but she really hasn't done anything wrong. Stevens will fight hard for her. Knowles also has to deal with a Green who will take many of his votes.

        I think it will take a lot of luck for him to win.

        by JamesB3 on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 09:05:25 PM PDT

•  like this

  <img src="http://www.tonyknowles.com/images/emails/TonyGunShow.jpg">

  by phil on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 09:36:31 PM PDT

  •  Thanks!

    Thanks!  I have just learned something new.

    by steina on Mon Apr 05, 2004 at 10:43:19 PM PDT