Will supporting guns finally cause politicians to lose their jobs?
The Price Is Right
Paul Begala, The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
BACK WHEN I was President Clinton’s political adviser, I cited poll numbers to try to talk him out of even a tiny tax increase on the middle class, in the form of a four-cent hike in the gas tax. But the final word went to Lloyd Bentsen, Clinton’s Treasury secretary. “Mr. President,” he said, “I’m sure Paul’s polls are correct. But I never saw a fella lose his seat for voting for a four-penny gas tax.”
Bentsen was right. The modest tax increase went through. Yes, the 1994 midterms were a disaster for my Democrats. But not because of the gas tax.
Bentsen’s political observation comes to mind in the current discussion of gun control. Sure, the polls say 90 percent of Americans support expanded background checks. But have you ever seen anyone lose his or her seat for voting against gun control? I’ve seen more than I care to recall lose their seat for supporting it.
The Gingrich revolution of 1994 was fueled in part by right-wing reaction to the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban. Jack Brooks, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee, was a fearless, cigar-chomping, old-school Texan Democrat, tougher than armadillo jerky. He warned Clinton that banning assault weapons would cost a lot of Democrats their seats. Clinton would not waver, and as he described the 1994 congressional elections in his memoir, “The NRA had a great night ... Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you’re out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage.”
(More here.)
Paul Begala, The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
BACK WHEN I was President Clinton’s political adviser, I cited poll numbers to try to talk him out of even a tiny tax increase on the middle class, in the form of a four-cent hike in the gas tax. But the final word went to Lloyd Bentsen, Clinton’s Treasury secretary. “Mr. President,” he said, “I’m sure Paul’s polls are correct. But I never saw a fella lose his seat for voting for a four-penny gas tax.”
Bentsen was right. The modest tax increase went through. Yes, the 1994 midterms were a disaster for my Democrats. But not because of the gas tax.
Bentsen’s political observation comes to mind in the current discussion of gun control. Sure, the polls say 90 percent of Americans support expanded background checks. But have you ever seen anyone lose his or her seat for voting against gun control? I’ve seen more than I care to recall lose their seat for supporting it.
The Gingrich revolution of 1994 was fueled in part by right-wing reaction to the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban. Jack Brooks, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee, was a fearless, cigar-chomping, old-school Texan Democrat, tougher than armadillo jerky. He warned Clinton that banning assault weapons would cost a lot of Democrats their seats. Clinton would not waver, and as he described the 1994 congressional elections in his memoir, “The NRA had a great night ... Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you’re out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage.”
(More here.)
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