Reply #54: NRA endorsement

[DemDogs]

Someone asked about the NRA questionnaire that in the basis for their endorsements. I knew they, like most advocacy groups, have them, but, no surprise, it is hard to find a reference to them. Here are some references (one is not too flattering to Clinton):

FROM THE LIBERTARIAN WEB SITE:
NRA & Matching funds
I would like to comment on several letters in the November edition of LP News.
Howard Wilson's letter about NRA endorsement of Libertarians states: "The Libertarians endorsed may not win, but if they are the only ones who return or answer the questionnaire, they will be endorsed."
I presume that he means answer favorably. However, it is difficult for a Libertarian to answer a questionnaire that has only been sent to Democrats and Republicans, as was done in New Hampshire, in 1994. In that year, I ran for Representative in New Hampshire, and was not sent a questionnaire by the NRA, nor were any other Libertarian candidates. Also, when I called NRA headquarters seeking information and left a message on voice mail, my call was not returned.
William J. Pearsall
Richmond, New Hampshire
<http://www.lp.org/lpn/9712-letters.html>

FROM AN AUGUST 2000 ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST:
NRA endorsements were electoral gold for Democrat and Republican alike. Congressman Al Gore was firmly anti-gun control. So was that young Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. In 1982, the NRA told Clinton that it didn't like his answers on an NRA candidate questionnaire. Clinton called and changed his answers. "I am in support of the NRA position on gun control," he wrote to the association.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/postmagazine/A17275-2000Aug1.html>