As a resident of the Northeast, I know better than to under-estimate the presidential candidacy of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Romney is a fierce and skilled campaigner who managed the difficult task of being elected a Republican governor in arguably the most liberal state in the country. And, once upon a time, an upstart Romney gave perpetual incumbent Sen. Edward Kennedy the race of his life.
Much has been made of the fact that Romney is a Mormon, but it’s hard to imagine that remaining a defining issue. We have had a socially liberal Catholic president in John Kennedy; and a Quaker president, Richard Nixon, who carpet-bombed Southeast Asia despite that religion’s belief in pacifism. The point is, concerns about religion are rarely well-founded, and the stereotypes about Mormons, such as polygamy in particular, do not apply to mainstream Mormons like Romney.
But where Romney really lost me was when he signed up last year for a lifetime membership to the National Rifle Association, again demonstrating that group’s corrupting influence on U.S. politics. For a quarter century now, the NRA has given the Republican party the well-deserved black eye of hypocrisy. The Republicans, who position themselves as the party of law and order, regularly accept money and endorsements from this group that fights tooth and nail against even sensible limits on gun ownership. Every time a lawmaker has tried to remove an assault rifle or quasi-machine gun from circulation, the NRA has been there insisting that it is every American’s right to own these weapons for hunting and self-defense purposes.
Given this extreme position, it’s a shame that the NRA has been given a seat at the table in mainstream American politics. Worse, it seems every Republican candidate has to spin himself or herself as an avid hunter, outdoorsman and gun owner to win the blessing of the NRA.
Can you imagine what would happen if a presidential candidate, particularly a Republican, came along and said he would never own a gun and does not enjoy hunting? Imagine if a candidate had the nerve to proclaim that sitting in bushes, drenched in urine scent, waiting to pop an unsuspecting deer in the head was not his or her idea of fun? Can you imagine the fear the NRA would spread about this candidate, and the extremes it would go to in order to prevent his or her election? The NRA has already started a mini-assault on Rudy Giuliani, who advocates gun control, although we might see Giuliani head to the right on this issue as well.
As you may have guessed, I am not a hunter and never will be. With that said, I support Americans’ right to hunt and even to own guns for that purpose. Hunting may be a bit of an anachronism, as we no longer rely on it to feed ourselves. However, it is a part of American tradition, passed on from father to son for generations. It’s not going anywhere, and that’s fine with me.
With that said, the Republican party needs to grow a backbone and insist that there’s nothing sporting about shooting a moose with a machine gun, semi-automatic weapon, or other instrument of war. There can and should be greater limits on the type of guns Americans can own. If you can’t bring yourself to hunt with a standard rifle, find something else to do.
And, after all, limits on gun ownership are not without precedent. The government regularly sets limits on the intensity and performance levels of things we can own. That’s why you can’t drive an Indy car to work or clear your brush with a flame thrower.
But Republicans, such as Romney, remain desperate for the blessing of the NRA, regardless of the extremist policies it advocates. And, even worse, if the Republicans turned their backs on the NRA, the Democrats would be eagerly waiting to scoop up the money. Let’s not forget the photo-op images of John Kerry in a hunting jacket, shooting birds during his presidential campaign.
But Romney had survived this far in his political career without buying a lifetime membership to the NRA, and it would have been nice to see him survive a little longer. The fact that he, like many candidates before him, pined for the good graces of the NRA indicates he is not a new type of candidate; he’s just more of the same.