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Nov. 16, 2004 When Al Gore took a leftward swing towards the end of the 2000 campaign, the chilling effect in his home state of Tennessee was clearly evident. Tennessee, like moderate West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri and Ohio, has a delicate balance of just how much liberalism they are willing to stomach. When the topic of liberal discussion falls on what is perceived as limiting the rights of gun owners, many swing voters quickly shy away from the Democratic Party. It may be that places like West Virginia, a state that has gone Democrat in three of the past five elections, is forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. When faced with John Kerry, who provided a confusing policy on guns to begin with and capped everything off with a staged duck hunting photo opportunity, West Virginians bolted to the man who they disapproved of economically but knew would protect their right to bear arms. The extent of the worries over John Kerry seems more to blame for losing West Virginia than a sudden surge in popularity by George W. Bush, as West Virginia was one of the few states that went Dukakis in 1988. Losing places like West Virginia must be looked at as a mistake, an error on the behalf of the Democratic Party. That mistake is a direct result of four years of anti-gun rights policy from the very liberal left wing of our party, those who are obsessed with assault weapons bans and long waiting periods. President Clinton’s Assault Weapons Ban most likely did far more to hurt the Democrats going into 2000, and continuing into 2004, than anything that has been done recently. To begin repairing this image of Democrats as untrusting elitists who seek to take away the guns of law abiding hunters, we must acknowledge what is true for many moderates – the Second Amendment is an important part of our Constitution. In some state Constitutions, Indiana’s for example, the right to bear arms is given to any able-bodied citizen over seventeen years of age, with proper age restrictions for purchasing a firearm and ammunition. This brief position is truly all the Democrats need, as evidenced by the fact that crime rates during the Assault Weapons Ban were no different than the crime rates before the ban was put in place. ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 17-year-old Democrat with moderate, centrist ideals. He blames John Kerry's 2004 loss on John Kerry, and is authoring a pamphlet on how to refine the Democratic Party for Victory in 2008 and beyond. For more information, check out The New Democrat. Read the fantasy-fiction novel "Alcardia". Email: DeMBurns@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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