Unit Four: Institutions of National Government
“Romney Assures N.R.A. of Support for Gun Rights”
Synopsis: Romney tried to win votes from conservatives in the general election by talking to the, National Rifle Association, an interest group. This demographic has not always been supportive to Romney because he has supported legislation that has threatened their view of the 2nd Amendment’s “right to bear arms.” Also, the group was skeptical of Romney because he exaggerated his hunting experience in the 2008 election. However, Romney won over the group with his criticism of President Obama and by involving the possibility of the appointment of new U.S. Supreme Court justices within the next four years. However, there is no evidence that any justice plans on retiring soon.
Analysis: Romney is looking for support that will help him to win the general election from conservative voters that help to make up the interest group, the National Rifle Association. He does not have a very good standing with these voters so he has to try to appeal to them in every way possible. Besides the usual criticism of his opponent, President Obama, Romney introduced the idea of the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently, there is a divided court in which there are four justices that tend to vote liberal, four justices that tend to vote conservative, and one justice that votes either way, called a swing vote. Romney talked about the possibility that some of the older Supreme Court justices could end up retiring within the next four years. If this occurs a new justice would be appointed. If President Obama is re-elected he would nominate a liberal justice and cause the divided court to become a more liberal court. This would be bad news for the members of the NRA because their second amendment right to bear arms could be threatened by a liberal court and that previous landmark cases that supported this right could be reversed.
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