NHDP - ICYMI: On guns and more, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of NH backs GOP leaders as party profile grows

Key Points:

"U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte has endured sustained and sharp political attacks on New Hampshire television for voting with her Republican Party and against universal background checks on gun purchases, and Republicans close to the first-term lawmaker acknowledge that her popularity has suffered."

 

"Ayotte quickly has become one of the party’s most loyal senators, supporting GOP leaders far more frequently than do fellow Republicans in the Northeast. That’s politically dangerous in New Hampshire, where independents and Democrats hold considerable sway."

 

"Critics suggest she is following the footsteps of at New Hampshire’s last Republican senator, John E. Sununu, who was once thought to be a climber among Republicans in the nation’s capital, but lost his first re-election."

 

"But the impact of the ad campaign was evident at a recent Memorial Day celebration, even among veterans who supported Ayotte in 2010.  'She was the only one in the Northeast to vote against it,' said World War II veteran Earl Isham, of Bedford, N.H., a Republican and fierce critic of President Barack Obama. 'Her vote tells me she was voting with them and not her state.'"

Associated Press: On guns and more, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire backs GOP leaders as party profile grows

By Steve Peoples, Published: June 8

BOSCAWEN, N.H. — U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte has endured sustained and sharp political attacks on New Hampshire television for voting with her Republican Party and against universal background checks on gun purchases, and Republicans close to the first-term lawmaker acknowledge that her popularity has suffered.

But there’s more to it than that. The gun vote says a lot about the image she’s carved out since taking office in 2011.

Ayotte quickly has become one of the party’s most loyal senators, supporting GOP leaders far more frequently than do fellow Republicans in the Northeast. That’s politically dangerous in New Hampshire, where independents and Democrats hold considerable sway.

Overall, Ayotte supported her party at least 86 percent of the time since coming to Capitol Hill, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan group OpenCongress.

In a party eager to find fresh faces, such loyalty brings a high-profile role.

The former New Hampshire attorney general was an important surrogate for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign last year and has become a leading GOP voice on national security.

U.S. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., describes the 44-year-old mother of two young children as a rising star for an evolving Republican Party long dominated by older “white guys.” She is one of just four Republican women in the Senate and the youngest of the group by more than a decade.

“It’s amazing to me after just a few years what an impact player she’s become,” Graham said.

Ayotte’s visibility, like her early voting record, carries risks.

Critics suggest she is following the footsteps of at New Hampshire’s last Republican senator, John E. Sununu, who was once thought to be a climber among Republicans in the nation’s capital, but lost his first re-election. Ayotte’s supporters note that while her once sky-high popularity has suffered, polls suggest that more New Hampshire voters still see her favorably than not.

Ayotte declined to be interviewed for this story.

Her supporters note that most Democrat senators across the Northeast have higher party-loyalty ratings than Ayotte does. Indeed, her New Hampshire colleague Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat up for re-election next year, votes with her party more than 90 percent of the time.

But the stakes may be higher for Ayotte, who faces re-election in 2016, in a region where Republicans are nearly extinct. Ayotte is one of just two congressional Republicans across all six New England states. The other, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, is widely considered more moderate and voted with her leadership just 65 percent of the time, according to OpenCongress.

The frequency of Collins’ willingness to vote against her party is in line with former Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe, of Maine, and Scott Brown, of Massachusetts. Snowe retired last year, while Brown was defeated.

“Kelly Ayotte is representing around 10 percent of voters who are the extreme right wing of her base,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin said. “I don’t think it will serve her well in the short term or the long term.”

Despite her early record, colleagues say Ayotte is willing to reach across the aisle. Ayotte joined with Democrats during last week’s congressional hearings about sexual assault in the military.

“What you’re going to find in Kelly is a conservative who is very practical and pragmatic,” said Graham, who described Ayotte as the “third amigo” in his friendship with Arizona Sen. John McCain. “She’s by no means an ideologue.”

Ayotte has embraced a high-profile role on some contentious issues. Most notably, she has become a leading voice in the GOP’s campaign to investigate the Obama administration’s actions in Libya, where the American ambassador and three others were killed in Benghazi last fall.

Like many of her party’s more conservative members, she has yet to endorse the immigration legislation, crafted by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and a small bipartisan group of senators, that allows a path to citizenship for immigrants who entered the country illegally. She has resisted joining Democrats and a few Republicans who are calling for tighter gun laws following the December school massacre in Connecticut.

Ayotte’s mid-April vote against expanded background checks for gun purchases at gun shows and on the Internet in particular triggered a flood of criticism. Polls suggest the proposal was overwhelmingly popular among voters in New Hampshire and nationwide. Four other Republican senators — including Collins, McCain, Illinois’ Mark Kirk and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey — voted for the plan, which fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group backed by New York’s mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, has spent $1.8 million so far pummeling Ayotte with statewide television ads since early May. Rubio came to her defense, using his political action committee to fund a television ad campaign praising Ayotte’s support for a substitute gun provision focused on mental health. But Bloomberg’s group has outspent Rubio’s and released a new television ad, its fourth since early May, that targeted Ayotte as recently as last week.

“Our hope is that she looks at this issue and reconsiders, and recognizes that what people are really looking for is bipartisan leadership,” said Howard Wolfson, Bloomberg’s deputy mayor and a strategist for the group. “We’re not going away. We’re going to continue to press the issue.”

Ayotte’s aides say she’s unlikely to change her vote if background checks come up again in the Senate. They say there’s plenty of time to recover any lost political capital before her next election, which is more than three years away.

But the impact of the ad campaign was evident at a recent Memorial Day celebration, even among veterans who supported Ayotte in 2010.

“She was the only one in the Northeast to vote against it,” said World War II veteran Earl Isham, of Bedford, N.H., a Republican and fierce critic of President Barack Obama. “Her vote tells me she was voting with them and not her state.”

[Full text of the article can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-guns-and-more-sen-kelly-ayotte-of-new-hampshire-backs-gop-leaders-as-party-profile-grows/2013/06/08/c3d9f528-d035-11e2-9772-6fcf660e8c49_print.html]

GOV. GARY JOHNSON - What you can do now to defend the 2nd Amendment

Friends,

 

Whether it be spying on private citizens and journalists, or using the power of the IRS to silence free speech, the government has a developed a nasty habit of denying our rights under the guise of making us safer.  That habit is especially evident in the rush to take away our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

 

And this attack on the 2nd Amendment is not limited to the federal government.  Across the country, state and local politicians are using recent tragedies as an excuse to achieve a long-held goal of taking Americans’ guns away -- or at best, imposing so many onerous restrictions that, ultimately, only law-breakers will possess firearms.

 

The Our America Initiative is determined to push back.  We see that constitutional rights are being eroded by the government every day, and on many fronts.  And we are doing something about it.

 

In March, the Colorado General Assembly enacted -- and the Governor signed -- a law severely limiting the capacity of ammunition magazines.  That law is such an obvious attack on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that a majority of Colorado’s sheriffs are not only opposed to it, but are going to court to try to have it overturned.

 

But Coloradans can’t depend on the courts.  A grassroots organization of Coloradans are launching a ballot referendum to give the state’s voters an opportunity to reject and repeal this anti-2nd Amendment law. And they have asked the Our America Initiative to help.

 

Last week, I announced that I am joining this repeal effort as its Honorary Chairman, and that Our America will lend its full support to making sure it is successful.  Defending liberty is what Our America is all about -- and nothing is more fundamental to liberty than the 2nd Amendment.

 

The first step in repealing Colorado’s gun law is to gather 100,000 signatures on petitions to place the referendum on the ballot in 2014.  That is a massive undertaking, but we will get it done -- with your help.  Many of the most important battles for liberty are being waged at the state level, and this is clearly one of them.  Placing the repeal of Colorado’s unacceptable gun control law on the ballot requires a lot of work, and a significant amount of funding.

 

Your contribution today at Our America Initiative will provide the money Our America needs to support the people of Colorado and get this done.  A poll conducted just a few days ago shows that a majority -- 52% -- of Coloradans want the ammunition magazine law repealed; it is our job to give them the opportunity to do so.  And I need your help.

 

This is an important opportunity for ALL of us to make a stand in defense of liberty.  I know I can count on your support.  Please go to www.OurAmericaInitaitive.com and contribute what you can.  I am personally committed to working as hard as I can to restore 2nd Amendment rights -- in Colorado and beyond.  But I must have your financial support to be successful.

 

Restoring liberty in America is not one big battle; it is the willingness and determination to defend our rights wherever necessary. Today, our help is needed in Colorado, and I look forward to having your support!

 

Your friendship and support are truly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Governor Gary Johnson

Honorary Chairman

Our America Initiative

 

P.S.  In order to collect enough signatures to give Colorado voters a chance to repeal this anti-liberty gun control law, we must begin NOW.  Your contribution today at www.OurAmericaInitaitive.com will let us get to work!

NH House Republican Leaders Comment on Senate Tabling Stand Your Ground Repeal Bill

CONCORD – Today House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) and House Republican Policy Leader Laurie Sanborn offered the following comments in reaction to the Senate voting 19-5 to table HB135, a bill that would have repealed the “Stand Your Ground” law passed by the previous legislature.

House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett)

“Retreat is not something responsible New Hampshire citizens should be forced to do when faced with a deadly threat. Our right to self defense and defense of our families and other innocent victims should not be limited to the walls in which we reside. Claims that current law would result in increased violence are unfounded. I commend the Senate for voting to table HB135, and not repealing ‘Stand Your Ground.’”

House Republican Policy Leader Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford)

“I would like to thank the Senate for standing up for New Hampshire citizen’s Second Amendment rights and rights to self defense. Telling law abiding citizens they need to turn their backs on an attacker and run away instead of defending themselves or their loved ones is entirely the wrong message, especially in the seconds that could mean the difference between life and death. The people of New Hampshire have a natural and basic human right to protect themselves wherever they happen to be, not just in the confines of their home.”

NHDP - ICYMI: Sunday Editorials Take Kelly Ayotte to Task for Gun Vote, Again

Concord - In case you missed it, the Granite State's Sunday Editorial pages took Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte to task for voting against bipartisan commonsense background check legislation, again.  The Nashua Telegraph, Concord Monitor, Valley News, and Keene Sentinel all criticized Ayotte's pathetic excuses for her vote against 90% of her constituents.

Concord Monitor Editorial: Ayotte's misdirection isn't working

May 12, 2013

"Magicians rely on misdirection to fool audiences and pull off their tricks. So do politicians when asked tough questions, as Sen. Kelly Ayotte has been at venues like her town hall meeting in Tilton this month. At that event Ayotte relied on misdirection and a magician, former congressman and current state Sen. Jeb Bradley. The one-time professional magician screened audience questions for Ayotte and made many of the ones about her anti-gun control vote disappear. Nice trick."

[Full Text Link: http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/6096580-95/editorial-ayottes-misdirection-isnt-working]

Nashua Telegraph Editorial: Ayotte misses mark with gun points

May 12, 2013

"It makes no sense to say just because the NICS doesn't catch everybody that we shouldn't try to catch anybody. Conspicuous by its absence in Ayotte's commentary is any indication of whether she would be willing to support extended background checks under any conditions. She doesn't address the glaring illogic of current law that exempts a significant portion of gun sales. What if all the initiatives she supports came true, would that be enough to convince her that gun show background checks are a good thing? Inquiring minds want to know."

[Full Text Link: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/editorials/1004313-465/ayotte-misses-mark-with-gun-points.html]

Valley News Editorial: Ayotte's Preference; Senator Focuses on Mental Health

May 12, 2013

"Here's what we don't understand: Why do the limitations of improved mental health screening give no pause to Ayotte and other advocates of the Protecting Communities bill, but very similar flaws stop them dead in their tracks when it comes to a wider application of background checks? The gun lobby, no doubt, could explain."

[Full Text Link: http://www.vnews.com/opinion/editorials/6066814-95/editorial-ayottes-preference-senator-focuses-on-mental-health]

Keene Sentinel Editorial: Faced with hollow arguments, reformers must keep pushing

May 5, 2013

"In a simple, bulleted slide show - and later in her answer to the single question from the audience about guns that she allowed during the hour-long meeting - Ayotte ticked her way through the same National Rifle Association-approved list of talking points she's relied on for weeks."

[Full Text Link: http://www.sentinelsource.com/opinion/editorial/faced-with-hollow-arguments-reformers-must-keep-pushing/article_0e5822f6-1607-5b24-b2b4-a5c6db53eccf.html]

This isn't the first time New Hampshire's editorial pages have harshly condemned Kelly Ayotte's vote.  Previously, the Concord Monitor called her statement opposing the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey compromise "utter nonsense." The Keene Sentinel said "Either way, Ayotte owes the people of New Hampshire an explanation. What she's said so far - that the bill would unduly burden law-abiding gun owners - doesn't cut it."  The Valley News wrote her "non-explanation was so vague it raised a number of questions" adding that it wasn't "one anybody would mistake for convincing." The Portsmouth Herald editorialized, "If we don't like how she voted Wednesday it's up to all of us who care about this issue to show Sen. Ayotte she was mistaken by voting her out of office."

NHDP - ICYMI: Kelly Ayotte, staunch advocate for gun safety? Not.

Key Point: "It's interesting that Republican Senators who voted No on Manchin-Toomey - such as Ayotte and Jeff Flake - are not staking out a harder stance here by saying only that, hey, I will never apologize for defending the Second Amendment, and you liberals can just suck on it. Instead, even though they are not willing to support expanding the background check system to close a loophole that poses a threat to public safety, apparently because the NRA won't let them, they recognize that support for improving background checks is the politically necessary position to take - and is indeed the one that is tantamount to defending children and families from gun violence."

Full text is below and available here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/13/kelly-ayotte-staunch-advocate-for-gun-safety-not/

Washington Post: Kelly Ayotte, staunch advocate for gun safety? Not.

By Greg Sargent, Published: May 13, 2013

A bit of a dispute has broken out over just how much pressure Kelly Ayotte is feeling over her vote against the Manchin-Toomey compromise to expand background checks. The gun control forces have organized to pressure her at town hall meetings and on the air, but conservative media have argued that the pressure on her from the left has been exaggerated.

It's interesting, then, that the major efforts to defend Ayotte by gun rights groups and fellow Republicans tend to emphasize her supposed support for background checks. That seems like a pretty good sign of which way the political winds are blowing on the issue.

Here, for instance, is a new ad that Marco Rubio's Reclaim America PAC is running in New Hampshire. It says this: "Safety. Security. Family. No one understands these things like a mom. Ayotte voted to fix background checks, strengthen mental health screenings and more resources to prosecute criminals using guns."

That message echoes a recent NRA ad that thanks Ayotte for her vote, but also says: "Kelly Ayotte voted for a bipartisan plan to make background checks more effective." Ayotte herself recently defended her vote on the same grounds that she supports.

It's hard not to notice that the thrust of these defenses center on Ayotte's support for background checks, and not her opposition to expanding them.

It's true that Ayotte did vote for an alternative proposal, sponsored by Chuck Grassley, that would have beefed up state sharing of mental health data with the feds, without extending the background check to private sales via commercial portals on the internet and at gun shows. But some gun control groups believe the Grassley approach would actually undermine the overall background check system. What's more, it needs to be stated again that Senators can support improving data sharing while simultaneously expanding the background check to close the private seller loophole, which unquestionably remains a major problem, as detailed in two terrific New York Times pieces recently - here, and here. There is no need to choose between the two.

It's interesting that Republican Senators who voted No on Manchin-Toomey - such as Ayotte and Jeff Flake - are not staking out a harder stance here by saying only that, hey, I will never apologize for defending the Second Amendment, and you liberals can just suck on it. Instead, even though they are not willing to support expanding the background check system to close a loophole that poses a threat to public safety, apparently because the NRA won't let them, they recognize that support for improving background checks is the politically necessary position to take - and is indeed the one that is tantamount to defending children and families from gun violence.