http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50660-2004Aug8.html<snip>
It won't be easy. When it comes to elections, the NRA tends to get its way. It's widely credited with winning enough swing votes in key states to defeat Al Gore four years ago. And this year it plans to mount a relentless campaign against Kerry. "We're going to be very active," promises Wayne LaPierre, the gun lobby's longtime executive vice president. LaPierre says the NRA will spend $20 million this year, roughly the same amount it laid out in 2000 on behalf of George W. Bush and his allies. But this time, the money will be more targeted and will also be supplemented by a vastly expanded network of volunteer activists. Over the past two years, the NRA has recruited its most energetic members and directed them to organize voters in more than 400 congressional districts nationwide.
Those "election victory coordinators" have been preparing voting drives for months. Through telephone, e-mail and door-to-door canvassing, the coordinators have identified thousands of fellow NRA members and other sympathizers. And to each of them they've relentlessly depicted the Democratic nominee as what LaPierre calls "a Second Amendment phony." That's harsh, but so is the NRA. It has a well-deserved reputation for blasting its opponents and for stirring up its 4 million members enough to motivate them to vote. In an election that's expected to be close, such passion -- and such numbers -- could make a big difference.
Gun owners make up a disproportionate share of the electorate in many of the states that are most contested, including Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Iowa. "There are hundreds of thousands of gun owners and hunters in those states and the gun issue is worth several percentage points on Election Day," LaPierre says.
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