I suspect Howard Dean didn’t intend to kill off Dems’ interest in gun control once and for all, but he’s played a surprisingly large role in making it happen.
It started during the presidential campaign. Dean made no secret of opposition to new federal gun control laws, or his “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, which hardly fit in with his message of being from the “Democratic Party wing of the Democratic Party.”
Dean’s center-right position on the issue drew fire from progressive leaders such as Marian Wright Edelman, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and the Million Mom March, which vowed to cut deeply into Dean’s liberal support by highlighting his un-liberal position on guns. As Mary Leigh Blek, president emeritus of the Million Mom March said, “Hey, Howard: We don’t need a pro-NRA president. We’ve already got one. Americans who care about getting guns off our streets need to know there is virtually no difference between Governor Dean and President Bush.”
The criticism had absolutely no effect. Even liberals in Iowa seemed wholly unconcerned about Dean’s position on the issue and the criticisms from gun-control advocates went largely unnoticed by primary voters. It was the first meaningful sign that the gun-control, once a staple of the Dem policy agenda, was no longer important to the party faithful.
The second sign is Dean’s ascension to the top of the DNC.
The expected election of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee this month will strike a crippling blow to the gun-control movement, lobbyists and political observers say.
Like Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a strong supporter of gun rights. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports gun control but rarely mentioned the issue before the 2004 election.
The fight’s over; the NRA won.
Fifteen years ago, the idea that a DNC chairman would brag about an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association seems inconceivable. But through a heated campaign-like process, in which candidates for the DNC post tried desperately to remind party leaders of their rivals’ tendencies to stray from core party principles, virtually no one noted or cared about Dean’s concerns, or lack thereof, over guns.
Put another way, Tim Roemer was to the party’s right on abortion, while Dean was to the party’s right on guns. Which one of these mattered?
Dean joins Harry Reid as a principal party leader who has little use for new gun control measures, not to mention John Kerry’s willingness to go hunting during the presidential campaign. The Republicans will probably hold onto the “Democrats are coming to take away your guns!” shtick for another cycle or two, but it’s going to be harder and harder for anyone to believe it.