Clinton v. Clinton

[Columbia]

April 27, 1999

http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/legacy/042799-remarks-by-president-and-hrc-on-gun-legislation.htm

"We always talk about the NRA -- the NRA has been powerful not only because they have a lot of money, but because they can influence people who vote. And in that culture, people believe everybody should be personally responsible for their actions; if you just punish people who do wrong more harshly, fewer people will do wrong; and everybody tells me I've got a constitutional right to keep and bear arms, so don't fool with me; and every reasonable restriction is just the camel's nose in the tent, and pretty soon they'll come after my shotgun, and I'll miss the next duck hunting season.

And we smile about that, but there are some people who would be on this platform today who lost their seats in 1994 because they voted for the Brady Bill and they voted for the assault weapons ban, and they did it in areas where people could be frightened. And the voters had not had enough time, which they did have within two more years, to see that nobody was going to take their gun away."
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July 26, 2004

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/26/dems.clinton.transcript/index.html

"With gang violence rising, and with all of us looking for terrorists in our midst and hoping they're not too well armed or too dangerous, the president and the Congress are about to allow the 10-year-old ban on deadly assault weapons to lapse.

Now, they believe it's the right thing to do. But our policy was to put more police on the street and to take assault weapons off the street. And it gave you eight years of declining crime and eight years of declining violence.

Their policy is the reverse. They're taking police off the streets while they put assault weapons back on the street.

Now, if you agree with that choice, by all means, vote to keep them in office. But if you don't, join John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democrats in making America safer, smarter and stronger again."
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It seems odd to me that the Big Dog would stress the AWB sunset tonight when he admitted just a few years ago that those who voted for it suffered losses at the polls.

Any thoughts?

[Wonk]

1. Bush vs Bush

http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/play.php?reposid=/multimedia/tds/stewart/jon_7131.html

[MrBenchley]

2. Doesn't seem weird at all....

He's talking about gun lobby money being poured into the 1994 race....as anyone around then know, there was no public opposition to the AWB ban except from the lunatic fringe. The Contract on America didn't mention the word "gun."

[enfield collector]

3. just one

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It seems odd to me that the Big Dog would stress the AWB sunset tonight when he admitted just a few years ago that those who voted for it suffered losses at the polls.

Any thoughts?

Hillary in '08?

[MrBenchley]

4. It's the right thing to do...

[slackmaster]

5. Flip-flopping on his legacy would look inconsistent

I believe Bill Clinton sees the AWB as a symbolic victory over some people who treated him very badly when he was in office. The arguably small net harm it did to personal freedom must seem unimportant to him, as it does to a majority of Americans.

When I heard the tepid jeering of the crowd when he mentioned it last night, my first thought was of how few people in the general population actually understand the flawed logic of the ban and what it actually did and did not do. I knew instantly what I would have done had I been there: I would have remained silent in respect for the man and resisted the urge to shout out my true feelings.

[Wickerman]

6. Locking by thread starter's request