NRA Begins Push To Tarnish Obama On Guns

The defining moment in the National Rifle Association's eight-figure advertising offensive against Barack Obama takes place about 15 seconds into a new spot featuring Karl Rusch, a white, middle aged Virginian clad in hunting gear.

After claiming that Obama supports "a huge new tax on my guns and ammo," Rusch closes the door of his truck and turns directly to the camera.

"Where is this guy from?" he asks. "He's probably never been hunting a day in his life."

The spot, the Washington Post points out, is a "huge stretch" - the claim that Obama wants to institute a large tax on guns and ammo, for instance, rests on a few words in an essentially irrelevant and vaguely-worded newspaper article from nine years ago.

But the point is clear: If you're a hunter, Barack Obama is not anything like you. And if he doesn't understand your concerns, he sure doesn't deserve your vote.

Obama has been fighting the notion that he opposes gun rights, stressing on the stump that he backs Second Amendment protections. His campaign has released a radio ad featuring American Hunters and Shooters Association head Ray Schoenke telling hunters the Democratic nominee won't come for their guns. Read more...>

BARACK OBAMA'S RESPONSE

Obama's Colorado campaign sends over audio of a new radio ad running in the state and in other battlegrounds pushing back on claims that an Obama presidency would be a disaster for gun owners.

The new spot features Ray Schoeneke -- a former Washington Redskins player and current gun rights advocate who's president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association -- promising that Obama will "make sure we can keep our guns."

"But what about our jobs?" the ad asks, shifting the discussion away from hot-button culture-war issues and on to the economy.

Here is the radio commercial script:
Barack Obama: I'm Barack Obama, candidate for president, and I approved this message.
Ray Schoenke: This is Ray Schoenke. I played football with the Washington Redskins. Now I'm president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association. It's important to me that our next President protects our Second Amendment rights to own guns and defend ourselves. Barack Obama and John McCain will both make sure we can keep our guns. But what about keeping our jobs?
Barack's got a real plan that invests in creating jobs here at home and cuts taxes a thousand bucks for working families.

John McCain?
I saw a lot of cheap shots in my day...But McCain's false attacks on Obama are just a fake to hide the ball. His plan sells out American workers. McCain will keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas. And he'll look the other way while China breaks our trade deals. It's the same old Bush playbook. Look, when the coach loses eight years in a row, you don't bring him back for a ninth season! We just can't afford more of the same.

To listen to the audio ad, click here...>

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Source: CBS News
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