Uppity Wisconsin

As we finish listing the winners and losers on Nov. 4, let's not forget the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Put them down as losers. Big-time losers. Again.

In 2006, you may recall, the NRA's Number 1 target in the country was Gov. Jim Doyle, long a supporter of sensible firearms regulation. That "Dump Doyle" campaign didn't turn out so well as he cruised to a solid reelection victory.

Undeterred, the NRA was back at full strength this year, endorsing candidates up and down the ballot, starting with the McCain-Palin ticket.

That didn't go so well, either.

And in Wisconsin, the NRA took a whipping in legislative races, too.

As Democrats took control of the Assembly, there were five seats that switched from Republican to Democrat. In every case, the NRA backed the loser.

Two NRA-supported incumbents, J. A. "Doc" Hines and Frank Lasee, went down to defeat. Hines had an A+ rating from the NRA, and Lasee was the guy who thought the way to make schools safer was to arm classroom teachers.

Three other open seats, formerly held by Republicans who retired, all went Democratic, too – and the NRA again was on the losing side in each.

The State Senate was a wash, with Dem Jim Holperin winning an open seat in the Rhinelander area over an NRA pick, and NRA-backed Randy Hopper taking an open seat in the Oshkosh area.

By my count, that leaves 48 NRA-endorsed candidates in the 99-member Assembly, less than a majority. But the NRA’s influence in the State Capitol has always far exceeded its influence at the ballot box.

For years, many Wisconsin lawmakers have been afraid to vote for any sort of gun legislation, for fear the NRA will run them out of office at the next election. That’s despite a lot of evidence to the contrary. The biggest NRA targets almost always win.

Yet there remains a disconnect between the NRA’s influence with the voters, which is minimal, and its influence under the Capitol dome, which is maximized.

For example, a statewide poll last year found 80% support for a bill that would require background checks on all gun sales in the state. Even gun owners and NRA members surveyed supported the measure by big margins. But the bill was never even introduced in the legislature, after the conservative Republicans controlling the Assembly made it clear they would kill it and punish any of their members who even brought it up.

There should be more hope now. As Jeri Bonavia, executive director of WAVE, the Wisconsin A nti-Violence Effort, told the Shepherd Express, legislators “should look at reality” and realize the NRA is toothless.

That’s more of the change we need and deserve.