Yesterday a Recommended Diary trumpeted the endorsement of Barack Obama by the American Hunters and Shooters Association, which endorsement was leveraged into considerable publicity in print and places like the Ed Shultz Show.
How can this possibly be a bad thing??
The American Hunters and Shooters Association is, to all appearances, a sock puppet for various rather extreme anti-gun groups, and represents very few "American Hunters" OR "Shooters".
From the Field and Stream Magazine Blog:
The Founding President is Ray Schoenke, a former player with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. Mr. Schoenke is apparently a successful businessman and a hunter and shooter of wide experience. However, according to Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director, Schoekne donated $5,000 to Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI), in 2000, and contributions were also made to HCI by the Ray and Holly Schoenke Foundation.
There is no vice president, but the Executive Director is Bob Ricker, who is identified on the site as a long-time advocate for the shooting industry. But Mr. Ricker apparently had a change of heart somewhere, and now works for the other side. In a sworn deposition (this is again from Chris Cox) given on Sept. 27, 2005, in New York City’s suit against the gun industry, Ricker stated that his "biggest" client was the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, and that another group he represents is Virginians for Public Safety, also an anti-gun group. Mr. Ricker stated that the AHSA is a client of his, and that he gets $3,000 per month to represent it.
John E. Rosenthal is President of the AHSA Foundation, and is the head of a Massachusetts group called Stop Handgun Violence. He is also a former member of the board of directors of Handgun Control, Inc.
Apparently, pretending to be a sheep proved too difficult for Mr. Rosenthal, as he has apparently left his position to pursue his true love
If bans on all guns, or on large segments of available guns based on appearance, are positions Senator Obama wishes to embrace (which I doubt) then he should simply do so, but if not he and his campaign should quickly distance themselves from this astro-turf outfit.
A candidate cannot control who or what endorses them, but they can control which of those endorsements they embrace.
And folks who recommended that Diary thinking it reflected a positive endorsement from actual gun owners and sportsmen got suckered.