Iowa Republican Joni Ernst was asked Thursday about a campaign ad in which she's shown shooting guns while a voiceover talks about "unloading" on Obamacare. Asked
if she would change the ad following the recent mass shooting at UC Santa Barbara, Ernst's answer included a word choice that was, let's say ... unfortunate:
"I would not -- no. This unfortunate accident happened after the ad, but it does highlight that I want to get rid of, repeal, and replace Bruce Braley’s Obamacare," Ernst replied, referring to a Democratic Senate candidate. "And it also shows that I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. That is a fundamental right."
Um. Um. UM. When someone leaves a massive paper trail documenting his intention to kill a whole bunch of people, and then he goes and kills a whole bunch of people, that is not an accident. That is pretty much the definition of non-accident.
Ernst's campaign is contending that because she also described the killings as a "horrible tragedy," any objection to her choice of the word "accident" is crass partisan politics. Whereas telling a voter disturbed by your shooting-things ad that "I have been endorsed by the NRA in this race, and again, just because of a horrible, horrible tragedy, I don’t believe we should be infringing upon people’s Second Amendment rights" is just a simple, non-partisan statement that your NRA endorsement comes above concerns about America's mass shootings problem.