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GOP defections may block filibuster of gun bills
Five GOP Senators will side with Dems to vote for cloture. They include John McCain, of course.
As the article notes, this puts Harry Reid on the spot. He's got vulnerable Senate Demos who will have to buck the White House or risk defeat. A filibuster would have solved his problem nicely. Senators in antigun States could blame the GOP, those in progun States could have explained they'd have voted against the measures if they'd been able to do so.
Update: John Hinderaker asks "What does Obama think he's doing on guns?" and states a couple of theories: (1) maybe he hopes to whip his base into a frenzy, in hopes of retaking the House... which seems unlikely.... or (2) better that folks think about gun control than that they ask questions about Benghazi, North Korea, etc..
I'd pose a third. He has no clue. I'm serious. In my ten years in DC I met many policymakers who were unfit to make policy. I'm talking really obvious things. The current administration has totally screwed up foreign policy, and foreign policy is of a vastly higher priority to a White House than is this. It may be as simple as "everyone will love it ... why the Washington Post, NY Times and CNN all say it is a wonderful approach... so let's just do it."
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You should read some of Princeton University economics professor Thomas C. Leonard's work on the History of Progressivism.
McCain is much more a Democrat these days than he is a Republican.
I'm less interested in what Ofailure is doing on guns than in what Joe Manchin thinks he's doing on guns.
"Hey, why don't I give the Democrats all the cover they need to reconcile a gun-registration bill into existence! Bloomberg says it'll help my reelection chances, and he wouldn't lie to me, right?"
David, I think you vastly underestimate Obama's hatred of freedom in general, and guns in particular.
I think there could be a bit of "over there, a squirrel!" going on, but I think its mostly him being a lame duck(13 dead in a theater pre-elections not enough... 26 kids in a school immediately after elections? Just right!... UH HUH) and his asking dems to fall on the sword.
He knows whatever gun policy he gets pushed will stick. He knows the AWB would still be here if it didn't have a sunset. He knows that, even if they lose the senate in 2014, he's still there until 2016, and everyone will have probably forgot about this by then.
It's the long game. He gets a few dems to commit political suicide, maybe loses the House, and he gets permanent gun control with little loss to himself, personally, and maintains veto power for everything he really hates(freedom, generally). It's perfect for him, for gun control advocates, and for almost all Dems(minus a few "little guy" dems in the red states).
Would be nice if the Repubs would have done this at some point with the NFA... OK, I'll wake up now :(