Here's the deal. I wanted to know more about the right wing in Colorado, so I started shopping at a local gun shop. Over the years, I have gotten to know the regulars pretty well and really enjoy going down there to shoot the shit with guys. The owner has created a barber shop atmosphere where men can stand around and talk about guns, hunting, fishing, politics and women, usually in that order.
When I started hanging out at the gun shop in 2002, Bush had an approval rating in the 70s, the war in Afghanistan was going well, and it looked like we would get Bin Laden sooner than later. Bush could do no wrong and everything that was a problem was left over from that Devil's spawn, Clinton.
The beginning of 2003 saw us gearing up for war. Bush's numbers were still sky high and every patriotic gun toting American knew that taking Saddam's scalp was the right thing to do. I started to lurk around DailyKOS and began to find that all was not well. I started to float a couple of the talking points that I picked up reading here at the gun shop. I was universally shot down whenever I brought up the seven minutes or Bush's flight to Nebraska, but I was tolerated because I can handle a pistol pretty well.
2004 was an election year. I got really excited about Dean and thought he would play really well in Colorado. I mentioned him down at the gun shop, but even with his high ratings from the NRA and his time in Aspen in the 70s, his opposition to the Iraq war was a deal killer. We need to fight them over there instead over here. Saddam was working on getting nukes. He helped Al qaeda with 9/11 and he had WMDs that would wipe out a city. Bush was still riding high and when Kerry failed to respond to the Swift Boat ads they knew he didn't have the balls to take on the terrorists. The interesting thing is that the part of the Swift Boat attacks that worked the best at the gun shop was when they talked about what he ACTUALLY did do when he got back from Vietnam. They never believed the attacks against his performance in the field. They believed he deserved his Silver Star and Bronze Star, but that his testimony to Congress was a betrayal to his brothers and sisters still stuck in the shit. I still don't get it, but it was and is the way they feel about Kerry down at the gun shop.
2005 started off well enough for the Repugs, but going after social security was a mistake. This peeled off the first few guys. Abu Graib and the Plame outing peeled off a few more, but when we started to get wind of the NSA wiretapping scandal you could see the wheels starting to come off.
In 2006, the NSA scandal blew wide open and the data mining of call patterns story hit. Bush became burnt flesh down at the gun shop. Everybody was talking about how they were glad they had Qwest and I posted my first Down at the Gun Shop diary.
Last week something happened that really made me understand it is over for the Repugs in Colorado. A guy was talking about having to do his background check again since he'd bought another gun two weeks ago and he hadn't done anything terrible that should stop him from getting a gun. The guy running his background check quipped, "Did you vote for Bush?" This got a good laugh. Nobody would have been laughing in 2005, 2004, 2003, or in 2002. Every Democrat can win in November with the gun shop crowd if their message resonates.
The race I'm most interested in is Angie Paccione's in CD-4. Angie Paccione's run for CD-4 is showing the right stuff, but she needs to hit Musgrave harder. She needs to turn her around and pound her kidneys until Musgrave's pissing blood. I'm hoping she knows that being tough and little mean will help her down at the gun shop. One guy has already declared that he is voting for her. To get the rest of the guys at the gun shop to vote for Paccione, Musgrave's record needs to be exploited:
Musgrave voted to cut the surviving military surviving spouse benefits and increased military families' insurance co-pays in HR5122.
She limited the health care benefits that National Guard and Reserve troops could receive regardless of their service or their injuries in HR1815. A lot of National Guard and reserve soldiers are going to be screwed by this big time.
She voted to cut funding for combat trauma care and prosthetic research for vets in HR2528. She probably figures a peg leg is good enough.
She voted against McCain's anti-torture bill in HR 4939. Maybe she should experience water boarding before she authorizes it.
She voted on two occasions to stop congressional oversight of Bush's warrantless wiretapping and data mining projects in HR 5631 and HR 5020 and is planning on legalizing warrantless wiretaps and authorizing Bush's data mining project this week.
CD-4 is a district that is in many ways a reflection of the gun shop. Paccione can win 75% of the gun shop vote without risking anything. I think she can do it. I hope someone on her staff reads this post and she gets on it. Hit Musgave hard and fast and make her suffer under the pressure.
