Women & Guns

From The Editor...

By Peggy Tartaro,
Executive Editor

"Nothing is sure," wrote Ben Franklin, "except death and taxes."

Perhaps if he had lived even longer than his 84 years, Franklin would have added, "and politics."

As my sister, Bridget, reads these words, she is probably rolling her eyes. She once returned home late in her middle school career with her only award-winning essay, entitled, "Politics."

The gist of her essay was to explain, with tongue in cheek, how fascinated she was to be at the dinner table while my father and I argued about politics.

Apparently the family genes (on both maternal and paternal sides) that cause the pulse to race at the thought of a mid-May school board election passed her by.,

To be fair, she is also now an adult tax-paying citizen, who remarks on topics of interest to her and votes with regularity. (She still, however, doesn't know on which channel her cable system carries C-SPAN.)

I, on the other hand, have progressed a bit as well. I don't, for example, leave C-SPAN on as background for ironing any more. I was, however, recently the only person in the office who knew that "Tipper" Gore's real first name is Mary Elizabeth.

I do still argue politics from time to time, not only with my dad, but friends, acquaintances and occasionally total strangers if I am stuck in an airport long enough.

So here it is not quite May 2002 and I am nattering about politics because they do matter, and despite a torturously imposed show recently of a fiercely shallow sort of comity on the part of US politicians, the 2002 political season is off and running.

Pity those of us who live in states like my own New York. Our governor's race will pit either of two anti-gun Democratic politicians-Andrew Cuomo (an inept party apparatchik with good name id) against Carl McCall (the current comptroller, a statewide position slightly less appealing than lotto number caller)-to face the incumbent Republican, George Pataki. Pataki, students of politics will remember, stabbed gunowners in the back last year, for the sake of tepid applause from The New York Times.

Across the country, there are similar lose-lose matches shaping up, as well as a number of more clearly defined races for gunowners. Florida's gubernatorial race, for example, will feature a clearly pro- and clearly anti-gun candidate.

These are, of course, different days than those of off-year elections past. Issues that burned hot (including the gun issue) 10 months ago are of less urgency to the public at large. And, I would expect to see politicians-incumbents and challengers-stay further away from issues like guns than they have in years past if they can possibly do so.

And that, gentle readers, is where we all come in.

It's time to roll up our shirt sleeves and declare to all and sundry, an interest in the positions of our politicians on topics of concern to us.

Here in spring-starved Buffalo, voters will grill Cuomo, McCall and Pataki on the fate of a local hospital, casino gambling and our part of the state's flagging economy. While economics will be a key topic throughout the state, the first two issues are of little interest to other New Yorkers.

That folks in say, Fish Kill, NY, aren't aroused by what happens to Children's Hospital in Buffalo is okay, even though if they scour web sites and news sources they can eventually find out where these guys stand on it. (I'd hazard that all are "deeply concerned" about its fate.) When a hospital issue comes to their part of the Empire State, there will be a historical record on which to make a decision.

Much is made of the sad state of politics waged in television ads and Action News soundbites. But the truth is, as they say, out there. And it requires only that you ask.

Thirty years ago, I was bussed on the cheek by a New York City parking lot developer as part of his quest for the governor's mansion. This was at a gathering of about 25 people, who after the pleasantries, got down to brass tacks and grilled the guy about his views on guns. He was, in the end, an unsuccessful candidate, but he probably got the vote of most of the folks in the room.

While this particular candidate did not return to politics, he is similar to many candidates, who, despite all the high tech campaigning of today, must still get out every now and then and make eye contact with voters.

Any number of groups-from local gun clubs to Rotaries, to the League of Women Voters-have Candidate's Nights, at which the aspirants kiss teenagers and, shake hands, drink coffee (usually decaf these days) and generally behave as if they were "just folks."

More often than not, the wannabe just folks at Candidate's Nights will be challengers, just as challengers (except the ones with family fortunes) are more likely to show up on call-in radio shows, and, increasingly, on interactive Internet sites.
Incumbents show up at public events as much as they have to-it may seem unfair-but that's pretty much a rule of politics, if not medicine: first do no harm.

The hand you shake, the person to whom you pose a question or pour coffee for, may not be the successful candidate in this year's primary or election. But another rule of politics seems to be: if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

When these sadder but allegedly wiser people get set to run again (sometimes minutes after conceding), they will look first to activists-including the kinds of people who showed up last time.

Gunowners are sometimes a little paranoid about lists-but an excellent list to find yourself on is one belonging to someone with political aspirations.

Your support, your money, your influence with peers, family and friends, and most importantly, your vote is what matters to politicians.