RPV Responds to Criticism of Ads Targeting Boucher and Perriello

The Danville News is reporting today that RPV stands by their ads targeting Boucher and Perriello.

Garren Shipley, RPV director of communications, said in an e-mail statement that pro-gun Democrats like Perriello should have spoken out against Calderon’s speech. He said the ads would stay online until Perriello gives his opinion on Calderon’s call to ban sporting guns.

“I find it hard to believe Rep. Perriello is really arguing that since he wasn’t in the room at the time, he shouldn’t have to stand up for his constituents’ Second Amendment rights,” Shipley said. “It’s easy to be pro-gun when all you have to do is sign a letter. It’s another thing entirely to stand up for the Second Amendment when Speaker Pelosi hasn’t given you a permission slip to oppose her.”

If the point is to get Boucher and Perriello to state publicly that a) Calderon is wrong; and, b)their colleagues were wrong to applaud Calderon's comments, RPV is on a little stronger footing than saying the two Democrats are anti-gun when there is ample evidence to the contrary. The ad does not specifically say either were there, just calls for them to state their position.

I do however stand by my assertion that it is a little too cute by half. In the end, I'm not sure how this helps the GOP candidates running against the incumbents. What you succeed in doing is giving the incumbents an opportunity to further strengthen their pro-rights credentials.

Are They Really This Stupid?

We knew ads like this were coming. After anti-gun Democrats and Obama cabinet members Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano lept to their feet when Mexican President Felipe Calderon called for a renewal of the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban," it would only take the Republican campaign apparatus a matter of days to throw up ads targeting the Democrats that gave El Presidente Calderon a standing ovation. One would have hoped that they would do some research before running ads against members that have a pro-gun record. I guess in this case at least, that was to much to expect.

According to the L.A. Times' Top of the Ticket political blog, the Virginia GOP did exactly that - ran ads against two incumbents who, in the case of at least one - Boucher, has a totally spotless record on guns.

"Voters in the 5th and 9th Districts need to know if Democrat Reps. Rick Boucher and Tom Perriello were among the hundreds of Democrats who leaped to their feet to applaud gun control while a leader from a foreign nation scolded the American people for upholding the rights secured to us by our Constitution," said party Chairman Pat Mullins in announcing the new commercials. Sensing a blockbuster investigative opportunity, the Ticket did its due diligence and called both offices (as requested by the commercials and the party chair) to find out if they gave Calderon a standing O.

The suspense lasted for about 30 seconds. Nope.

Making it even less suspenseful and infinitely more boring, neither congressman were even there.

This just looks bad for an organization that until last November was struggling to look relevant. There have been internal power struggles that led to fundraising woes at RPV over the last few years as well as a long loosing streak in statewide elections dating back to 2001. This was supposed to change when Mr. Mullins became party chairman but it appears that someone decided to be too cute by half in this case.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for using the video of members of Congress that not only applauded, but went out of their way to jump up and down in enthusiastic adulation for a foreign leader that used an opportunity to speak before them to take us to task for not behaving the way the leader thinks we should. I just think you need to make sure the individual being targeted was actually in the room and in fact was one of the participants in the spectacle. All the state GOP has succeeded in doing is looking very bad and giving left wing bloggers a chance to rub it in their face.