Campaign Action
Across the nation this weekend, hundreds of thousands of Americans changed the debate on guns with their feet. They marched, sang, spoke and registered to vote. That the gun debate has been turned on its head isn't in question, but what that means for the midterm elections is far from clear. Democrats, however, are increasingly emboldened to talk about real, substantive change.
Sean Casten remembers that shortly after he announced his campaign for Congress last year, a Democratic friend told him he had better avoid talking about gun control or risk an “onslaught” from the National Rifle Association.
He’s ignoring the advice. […]
Democratic candidates are showing less restraint now. In one key Colorado House district, for example, Democratic candidate Jason Crow used the first digital ads of his campaign to criticize GOP Rep. Mike Coffman, accusing him of taking money from the gun lobby while offering nothing more than “thoughts and prayers” to victims.
Another Democratic candidate, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, highlighted her father’s death by gunshot in her own first political ad last week, turning the tragedy into a call for stricter gun control. A raft of other Democrats, including California contenders such as Katie Porter in Orange County, have asked supporters to sign online petitions to “demand action” on gun laws.
Beyond being ad fodder, the issue is driving activism for candidates. It's "a tool to bring new names and new volunteers and new donors into campaigns,” said Ben Pollara, a Miami-based Democratic strategist. "Because other than Donald Trump, it is the single greatest rallying cry for Democrats right now." The shift in national polling reflects that, and has created. "The numbers have shifted so rapidly on a lot of this stuff, folks are still trying to figure out where the center is," Pollara said.
The center seems to be moving to sanity on guns, and some Republicans recognize that. Regular Republican scold John Kasich, Ohio's governor, recognizes that voters "do want changes" on guns. And Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is considering taking on Democrat Bill Nelson for a Senate seat this fall, bucked the NRA by signing incremental new gun regulations. A major conservative donor, energy executive Dan Eberhart, is encouraging more Republicans to defy the NRA. "Republicans are going to have to move a little to get 51 percent-plus in elections, and the N.R.A. will have to deal with it. […] The N.R.A. is really out of step with suburban G.O.P. voters."
With the incessant craziness being generated by the occupier of the Oval Office, keeping focus on any single issue is a challenge. But in this gruesome case, events will force that attention back again and again. Because 73 teens were shot to death between February 14—the day of the Parkland shooting—and last Friday. The Parkland students, and every student behind the creation of 800 March for Our Lives events Saturday, are going to keep our attention.