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Gun vote backlash: Five senators who said 'no' see ratings plunge [View all]
Five senators have seen their approval ratings drop after they voted against a measure to expand background checks to gun buyers online and at gun shows, according to recent surveys from Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm.
(snip)
The liberal polling firm zeroed in on Ayotte, Portman, Heller, and Flake because those senators represent states that voted for President Obama in 2012 or, in Flake’s case, have been trending more Democratic in recent years.
“For Republican senators to be successful (in their reelection bids) in those states, they have to come across as centrists,” Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, said in the call Monday with reporters. “This is a vote that could haunt them for six years down the road,” he argued, because it risks their independent-minded images, making the senators look like “Washington Republicans when Washington Republicans are about the most unpopular things you can be in politics.”
Moreover, the pollsters expect that the deep-pocketed Mayors Against Illegal Guns (bankrolled by billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) and the politically savvy and emotionally resonant Americans for Responsible Solutions (led by former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, herself the victim of gun violence) will keep the issue of gun regulation and gun violence in front of the public between now and those distant elections.
Read More: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0429/Gun-vote-backlash-Five-senators-who-said-no-see-ratings-plunge
(snip)
The liberal polling firm zeroed in on Ayotte, Portman, Heller, and Flake because those senators represent states that voted for President Obama in 2012 or, in Flake’s case, have been trending more Democratic in recent years.
“For Republican senators to be successful (in their reelection bids) in those states, they have to come across as centrists,” Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, said in the call Monday with reporters. “This is a vote that could haunt them for six years down the road,” he argued, because it risks their independent-minded images, making the senators look like “Washington Republicans when Washington Republicans are about the most unpopular things you can be in politics.”
Moreover, the pollsters expect that the deep-pocketed Mayors Against Illegal Guns (bankrolled by billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) and the politically savvy and emotionally resonant Americans for Responsible Solutions (led by former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, herself the victim of gun violence) will keep the issue of gun regulation and gun violence in front of the public between now and those distant elections.
Read More: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0429/Gun-vote-backlash-Five-senators-who-said-no-see-ratings-plunge
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