The National Rifle Association is endorsing Democratic Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand in the 20th congressional district race.<\/p>\n
The NRA’s praise for Gillibrand drew this response from challenger Sandy Treadwell, the Essex County Republican:<\/p>\n
Kirsten Gillibrand and I obviously don\u2019t agree on much, but I am glad that after failing to even answer the NRA survey in 2006 she submitted it this year and is now 100 percent with the NRA. I congratulate her for being a staunch ally of President Bush and Vice President Cheney on this issue, learning the importance of gun ownership to upstate New Yorkers, and obtaining the NRA\u2019s endorsement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s a tough bit of political gymnastics for Treadwell, who also received a high rating from the NRA. <\/p>\n
He seems to want to tar Gillibrand for her association with an unpopular president and vice-president, who happen to be the leaders of Treadwell’s GOP.<\/p>\n
Gillibrand’s response to the NRA endorsement:<\/p>\n
As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, it is a privilege to have the endorsement of the NRA and the support of Upstate New York\u2019s gun owners and hunters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The trick for Treadwell throughout this race has been finding issues and talking points that separate him sharply from Gillibrand.<\/p>\n
That’s what challengers have to do — convince voters to do something different.<\/p>\n
But in this race both candidates are pro-choice; they both opposed the Wall Street bailout; both describe themselves as centrists; and now both are favored by the NRA.<\/p>\n
And the lines just get fuzzier.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Albany Times-Union, Treadwell talked passionately about “the greatest man he ever met” and “my hero.”<\/p>\n
Ronald Reagan? Nelson Rockefeller? <\/p>\n
Nope – Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n
“His other hero,” writes the T-U’s Irene Jay Liu, was “Democratic President John F. Kennedy.”<\/p>\n
Centrism is well and good, but it’s unclear whether this kind of post-partisanship is giving voters reason enough to change horses.<\/p>\n
The bottom line? Without any kind of public polling, no one really knows how close this race remains – less than a month before the election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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