Chuck Todd on yesterday's SCOTUS ruling and the POTUS race

[underpants]

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Get your gun: Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision on the 2nd Amendment elevated an issue -- guns -- that hadn’t received that much attention until now. Remembering that the subject hurt Al Gore in 2000 and somewhat damaged Kerry’s image in 2004 (after his widely panned hunting excursion) will guns also be a problem for Obama? On the one hand, many of the swing states (actually check that, EVERY swing state) are places where the electorate tends to have pro-gun views and where the Mike Bloomberg position wouldn’t fly. On the other hand, as some have pointed out today, the Supreme Court ruling may actually help Obama because Republicans might no longer be able to argue that Democrats want to take your guns away. “The Supreme Court has said you can't do that,” Democratic pollster Geoff Garin told the Washington Post. In addition, since Gore’s loss in 2000, many Dems have moved to the center on guns. Nothing was more emblematic of that than Obama’s statement on the court’s decision yesterday. "As president, I will uphold the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners, hunters, and sportsmen. I know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne.” And then there’s the question of whether wedge issues like guns -- or abortion or the death penalty or gay marriage -- will resonate at all in what’s looking to be a change election. Also, McCain hasn’t been seen as the NRA’s best friend in Congress. So while the pro-gun crowd is very leery of Obama, they aren’t necessarily that fired up about McCain.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/27/1171723.aspx

[Coexist]

1. interesting take.