IS THE NRA WEAKER?

Given how the NRA has supported the radical positions of movement conservatives, I certainly hope so.

NRA's political clout is waning
By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 14, 2008

NRA-backed U.S. Senate candidates in Pennsylvania, Montana, Missouri, Minnesota and Virginia all lost in 2006, even though the gun group spent more than $1 million on their races, according to federal election data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

In Wisconsin, another key swing state, the group spent nearly $700,000 to unseat the Democratic governor, who had twice vetoed legislation allowing state residents to carry concealed weapons. Gov. James E. Doyle cruised to reelection by 8 percentage points, and the leading champion of the pro-gun legislation in the state Senate lost his seat.

Even in the West, where guns have loomed mythically large on the political landscape, there are signs that the issue may be losing its potency.

Four years ago, in a race for Colorado's open U.S. Senate seat, Democrat Ken Salazar, who as state attorney general was a frequent advocate for tougher gun regulation, defeated a Republican who sat on the NRA board and benefited from more than $430,000 in independent expenditures by the group.