So, to some degree I have always thought there should be room enough on the pro-gun side of the 2nd Amendment to allow for multiple organizations. I have had the pleasure of working with and supporting the NRA, NAGR, GOA, and VCDL all at varying times- and they all have something worthwhile to bring to the table.
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That said, I have never understood nor agreed with the policy of the NRA to always endorse the incumbent as long as they are ‘good enough’, even when the opposition scores an AQ rating. I just don’t get that.
And, I have also thought that NAGR, GOA, and VCDL have always had worthwhile things to add to the conversation from a policy and advocacy standpoint.
But this situation is one I truly don’t get.
Apparently, the NRA is hiding Susan Stimpson’s rating on their website.
Oh yes, she completed the survey; and oh yes, they received it. A NAGR member called up the NRA to confirm this (audio HERE).
Why hide it?
Why???
What good can this possibly do? If Susan is the nominee, you’ve just needlessly ticked off a gun supporter.
If not, you’ve just made a cadre of new opponents for Howell.
What good can this possibly serve???
2A supporters need all the help they can get. Time to post Susan’s rating, NRA.
42 comments
So whenever the NRA supports your candidate, or you can construe their ratings to imply their support, you parade it around as gospel. Yet now, when the organization has wisely chosen to endorse a candidate with a proven record over an unknown who answered the questions correctly but otherwise has given us no reason to trust her and her abilities, they’re suddenly wrong, or hiding something. Are you so full of yourselves that you would instantly accuse this organization of lies or conspiracy, simply because they (for good reason) disagree with you this time? I understand this is a blog and doesn’t have to adhere to any sort of journalistic standards, but don’t you at least want to try? What good does it do to post an “article” that simply asks the question “why?” five times, with varying numbers of question marks? There’s an obvious answer here: Susan’s “score” means absolutely nothing with her unproven record. When you compare similar answers on a survey, and only one has a record to back up their promises, there’s no reason to dig any deeper or endorse any other candidate. The NRA wants to maintain the integrity of their organization. To protect the rights of gun owners, it makes sense for them to support someone who has proven that they are a trustworthy advocate of 2nd amendment rights, and it would be ridiculous for the NRA to endorse an unknown candidate who could, in theory, uproot a conservative leader in VA government and go back on her promises. In short, the answer to your juvenile questions is simple: the NRA endorses the Speaker because he has proven to be a man of his word, and for them to even comment on Susan’s promises would be to distract potential voters from the fact that, if we want to see actual results, we should place our trust the Speaker.
This infighting and nitpicking is shallow and pedantic. The NRA’s decision to not comment on Ms. Stimpson’s record is quite astute as Mr. Howell’s record is flawless. It is simply superfluous and unnecessary for them to comment on Ms. Stimpson’s record, especially given their relationship with the speaker. It would undermine their relationship with the speaker to endorse his opponent in any way when Speaker Howell has so adroitly served their interests (and the interests of Second Amendment supporters) during his dependable conservative tenure. Not realizing this reality either reflects political ignorance or willing rabble-rousing for the sake of political opportunism.
Indeed. Shallow and pedantic.
OKAY MR. THESARUS you clearly think your opinion is worth more than the rest of us “plebians” just cause you can use “big words”. GO BACK TO YOUR LIBERAL UNIVERSIDY OR WHATEVER AND LEAVE TRUE CONSERVATIVES LIKE SUSAN STIMPSON ALONE!!!!!!
I fail to see how your own stupidity and vocabulary dearth of any sort of refinement are my fault or the fault of the American education system. I resent your philosophy that only certain people who you seem to be able to determine are “true conservatives” merit the name. You sir, are what refined individuals refer to as “ignorant.”
I’m sorry I can’t hear you over the sound of YOU BETRAYING THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT!!!! GO BACK TO COMMUNIST SWEDEN AND TAKE YOUR TAX AND $PEND $PEAKER HOWELL WITH YOU!!!
Conservative *bowel* movement, you mean. That’s exactly what the TEA party and the fake candidates it props up are.
KEEP HATING YOU SOCIALIST SWINE!!! I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL SUSAN REMOVES YOUR BELOVED BILL FROM HIS CORRUPT OFFICE!!! YOUR SO IN LOVE WITH BILL HOWELL ITS NO WONDER YOU LOVE HIS RADICAL GAY AGENDA!!!
Please get a grip. You are not helping Susan with this stuff.
I’m sorry Jeanine I sometimes just get so frustrated by these obvisouly fake accounts slandering good conservatives and propping up liberals like Bill howell. Love the blog!!!
For your information sir, Sweden is a democracy. The last Communist holdout is probably Cuba, if you can still call it that. I am beginning to doubt that you have obtained even a high school diploma. Please, further your education before commenting on well-reasoned posts. What you are currently spewing is nothing but uncultured dribble.
Reg, this article not nitpicking and infighting, but a legitimate claim. The point of the article was not for the NRA to endorse Stimpson over Howell, but to show her rating. Show everyone’s rating.
The NRA, if they wanted to keep a good relationship with Howell, could still have endorsed Howell, even if Stimpson got a higher rating. All they would have had to do is state that, “Even though Stimpson had a higher rating on the survey, Howell has a proven record and we endorse him as to not ruin what he has accomplished. He has a proven record and Stimpson does not.”
Not showing all the candidates ratings makes the NRA look corrupt.
NRA isn’t posting her rating because she’s a TEA-party nobody who has no real chance of winning and is largely irrelevant considering her opponent who will win has an A+ rating with the NRA. Sorry, that’s just the facts.
Indeed. What self-respecting candidate lacks even a Wikipedia page?
Love self-serving jerks like this. First off, they posted ratings for candidates with far less chance than Susan. Second, their duty is to post ratings for whomever returns the surveys. They admit they got the survey. This garbage is the reason competing orgs are popping up. People are tired of these kind of pointless political games.
Specs? Which candidates are you referring to? Do their opponents have A+ ratings?
It is funny how these “Phantom” groups have popped up in races such as Delegate Howell’s. The reality is this: Bill Howell has a strong conservative record and anyone who doesn’t believe that is either A) Politically naive or (B) Disingenuous. Of course, judging by the mail that has went out recently from Stimpson and/or her supporters I would lean towards the latter.
I find it comical that those supporting her seem to overlook her past associations with Bill Howell including the now infamous video where she heaped praise on the Speaker as her political mentor. I guess when it comes to tearing someone down we should never let facts get in the way.
To say that the chief patron of the largest tax increase in Virginia history, HB 2313, has a “strong conservative record” is writing comedy. That is before we even mention his involvement in the 2nd largest tax increase in Virginia history.
Speaker Howell’s “signature achievement” in about 28 years in the Virginia House is HB 2313, the largest tax increase in Virginia history. Speaker Howell was the Cheif Patron of HB 2313.
Speaker Howell cannot run on his record, because it is a record of over the top tax increases, and then the spending for bigger government. His record of tax increases and tax and spend government is the envy of the Democrats.
Vote Republican, vote Stimpson on Tuesday!
RR: Unfortunately, it appears that Stimpson cannot run on her record either since she has spent the entire campaign attacking Delegate Howell. I guess when you have no record it is easier to tear into your opponent. Yes, yes, I know she was Chairman of Stafford County…What she fails to mention is that all of her colleagues endorsed Mr. Howell. What does that say?
Well, first off, she does have a record of being Conservative while Chairman.
Second, even if she had no record at all, it tops the serial tax increaser record of Speaker Howell. We know that Howell is really a tax and spend Liberal Democrat. His record proves it.
As far as those who back Howell? They are afraid of his power. In my mind it is another reason to vote for Stimpson.
For Stimpson to take on Speaker Howell proves just how courageous she really is, and that she is not a member of the corrupt good ole’ boy network. We need more Susan Stimpson’s. She will not let a power company run Virginia.
Vote Stimpson!
Just because an unknown with a blank slate claims not to increase taxes doesn’t make them a more trustworthy candidate. Civil servants do things other than *not* raise taxes. We have to have faith that Susan can effectively manage our state. Apparently her management skills are below par, given the fact that *her own* fellow board members didn’t endorse her for this position.
Would you please enlighten us as to the wonderful things that “civil servant” Howell has done besides raise taxes? If you do, you will be the first, but somebody has to be the first.
Come on, you opened the door, tell what else Howell has done besides tax and spend in his 28 years in the GA?
If HB 2313, the largest tax increase in Virginia history, is not his signature achievement, then just what is? He had to jump into bed with the Democrats to get that done. Just like he had to jump into bed with Mark Warner to get the 2nd largest tax increase in Virginia history done.
Tell us, just what else has your boss done? Make him run on his record. You simply cannot.
Vote Stimpson on Tuesday!
I’ve seen the exact same B.S. from you before on other campaigns, Jeanine, where you just pretend you haven’t heard of anything positive the opponent of your preferred candidate has done. I love how you refer to him as “my boss,” implying that he even knows who I am or that I wouldn’t support him as a candidate if some sinister, establishment source wasn’t paying me loads of money for it. It makes complete sense, don’t get me wrong. It’s cognitive dissonance–you know I have to be wrong, because you don’t agree with me and are so self-righteous that your opinion can never be swayed, yet you have no response to Bill’s laundry-list of achievements, so you pretend that you haven’t heard them before, and tell yourself that I’m a liar who is being paid by the establishment. Why the hell would any respectable House of Delegates candidate pay a random person to read your freaking blog and argue with you? Do you really think your vote and the votes of your avid readers mean anything in the grand scheme of things? Again, your sense of self-righteousness is never anything less than sickening. If you are so ignorant of the Speaker’s achievements, take a gander at this endorsement letter from Susan’s former colleagues: https://www.williamjhowell.org/stafford-co-republican-supervisors-howell-delivers-republican-leadership/
(I’m not gonna tag some worthless endorsement at the end of all my posts. Read up on the facts, and vote however the hell you want to)
Is that the best you can do for someone with 28 years in the House? A few paragraphs, mostly attacking the only person in the 28th who has the courage to take on Howell? The only one who will not be intimidated by Howell?
That list about says it all. 28 freakin’ years, and that is the best you can do? That is disgusting.
Which one of those paragraphs contain his signature achievement? What is Howell’s signature achievement? Why is Howell’s signature achievement not mentioned in that article?
HB 2313, the largest tax increase in Virginia history,
is not mentioned in that propaganda message that you provided? And neither is Howell’s part in the second largest tax increase in Virginia history mentioned? What, is Howell not proud of his tax increases?
If HB 2313 is so good for Virginia, then why did Howell have to jump into bed with the Democrats to get it passed?
Vote Republican, vote for Stimpson tomorrow!
Those “few paragraphs” damn anything Susan claims she has to offer. What you call bravery, I call political opportunism. Susan can only make claims and promises as to her managing capabilities, honesty and trustworthiness–claims that are soundly refuted by her own colleagues.
I love how you ask for evidence, claiming that there is none. Then I, instead of providing a laundry-list that you’ll claim is lies, simply provided a taste from the colleagues of the Speaker’s own opponent–and you complain that it “isn’t enough.” Of course in a short, succinct letter the Stafford Board of Supervisors isn’t going to list everything Bill has done in his 28 years in office. The point is that you’re blatantly lying when you say Bill does nothing other than raise taxes. He is a trusted, respected civil servant, who voted for one massively controversial bill that you *really* hate. Why can’t you be honest and say it that way?
You keep referencing the behemoth tax-hiking bill, HB 2313. It’s more a trademark of political opportunists looking to primary experienced candidates than it is a trademark achievement of any of the delegates who voted for it. I’ve wasted enough time arguing with you TEA-party types about whether or not the bill was a good thing for VA. If you want to pretend that the Speaker has done nothing good during his term (a bogus claim I’ve already addressed) and that HB 2313 has no merit and contradicts everything else Bill has done, you can continue to live in that fantasy. But don’t tell me Bill does nothing other than “raise taxes.” That’s bullsh*t. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Say what you mean–say that you believe 28 years of accomplishments can be overshadowed by one massively controversial bill that you simply dismiss with a single statement. If your criteria for primarying an incumbent is that simplistic, why aren’t you attacking other supporters of HB 2313, like Greason, Minchew, Albo, Bell and Miller?
Also, please quit with the fear mongering bullcrap claims that “establishment RINOs” are “in bed” with democrats simply because they found out that they could agree on some fundamental issues. I’m sick of your type of conservatism that claims we can’t ever cooperate with the human beings on the other side of the table. I don’t fear the oh-so-evil democrats as you do, and I don’t fear bipartisanship. The fact of the matter is that, without bipartisanship, progress is nearly impossible. And I can’t support a candidate like Susan who is so afraid of this basic concept of effective governance.
Go ahead then, tell the General Assembly and Governor today, that over-the-top tax increases are okay. Tell them you want MORE tax increases.
Tell Virginia politicians that a governor riding around in a corporate Ferrari with an engraved corporate supplied Rolex is okay by you. Tell them you want more.
Tell Virginia’s politicians that a corrupt, power company, run form of government is what you want. Tell them you want more.
Tell them you want more by voting for Speaker Howell.
Or, tell them you have had enough by voting for Stimpson.
Wonderful straw-man skills. I have no problem with taxes on their face, it depends on how they are spent. The results today will speak for themselves.
And they did.
Do you think the 28th District would be covered with bright red Howell yard signs in front of voters’ houses if Howell hadn’t been effective for the District? No, everyone in this area knows him, and the vast, vast majority of them have a much better impression of him than they do of Stimpson. Even as Speaker, as the most powerful Republican in the District, Howell has built a relationship with a staggering number of his constituents. Regardless of what out-of-district extremist stone-throwers like yourself keep preaching, Jeanine, you can ask around the 28th and none of these constituents think Howell is going anywhere. That is because after 28 years, they know him, and they still trust him. Stimpson’s record of turning on someone who helped mentor her and guide her in her career does not portray to the people of this District the same sort of trust. The voters of the 28th will ultimately settle this debate tomorrow, however, and I am confident that we will find you backing away from your previous predictions and finding some boogeyman to blame the election results on other than the sheer ineffectiveness of your favorite candidate of the day.
If Howell is so horrible, why is Stimpson saying he’s her political mentor? Wouldn’t that mean the two are cut from the same cloth?
We have a word for this practice, Mr. Stimsicks. It’s called “political opportunism.” You call someone a RHINO enough times, claim that they’re a “serial taxhiker” while you, of course, plan to vote against any and all tax increases, and you can out the experienced man who has been you mentor–because there’s no such thing as “experienced” in the TEA Party mindset, only “establishment career politicians.”
When Susan said those thinks it was long before Howell had voted for the largest tax increase in the history of the Commonwealth.
Please enlighten me how someone can say “thinks” ??
The National Association for Gun Rights opposes Howell. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gun-rights-group-portrays-va-house-speaker-as-friend-to-rapists/2015/06/06/50e8e118-0c52-11e5-9e39-0db921c47b93_story.html
Jeanine, do you think Bill Howell believes people should be defenseless against rapists?
Exactly. Such claims are simply absurd, yet this is the TEA Party mentality. Reduce your opponent to someone they are not, lie about their record, and even the most inexperienced disingenuous candidate like Stimpson will seem preferable.
That’s how you win a primary against an accomplished civil servant. You can’t effectively weigh your accomplishments or credentials against theirs. And why bother? Why bother when you can spew hateful rhetoric to straw-man your opponent? Political opportunists like Stimson prefer the easy way to the honest way when it comes to campaigning.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention Jeanine!!! Gun-Grabbers like Bill Howell wolud love to see us and our familys unarmed and at the mercy of RADICAL BLACK PANTHERS AND SOCIALIST GANGS!!! Howell wants Fredericksburg and Falmouth to burn JUST LIKE BALTIMORE!!!.
You, sir, epitomize the fear mongering of TEA Party radicals.
RINOS such as you Mr. Macklin are destroying the Republican Party!!! The TEA party stands up for CONSERVATIVE VALUES!!!! Go ahead and alienate most the party you LIBERAL LOSER!!!! Bill Howell wants to destroy the conservative movement because WE STAND UP TO HIM AND THE DEMOCRAP RADICALS!!!!!
The NRA seems to be proceeding down a similar path to the AARP. More and more about exercising political power in the capital and leveraging revenue generation marketing capabilities and less about the association’s actual core membership and it’s founding charter.
The Pro-2nd Amendment tent is large enough for all of these organizations. But I agree that many times Pro-Gun groups spend more time fighting among themselves rather than fighting against the gun-grabbers,