Re: It really is stunning
Fixation on the "power" of the NRA is a distraction and an excuse. The NRA has, at bottom, the power of speech, combined with the funding necessary to support the advocacy staff, provided largely by voluntary membership dues. Their influence - the weight incumbents and those who would like to replace them assign to their advocacy - results from the perception, probably correct, that the NRA "speaks for" a large number of voters, combined with a similar perception of the logic of their arguments. Failure to recognize this, which also is true of most successful lobbying, is delusional, magical thinking.
For the record, I am not and never was an NRA member or supporter and do not and never have owned a gun.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
