A Republican candidate in Colorado sponsored a sweepstake, a wide net cast for more votes. The lure? The M&P 15.
The Republicans and the NRA have concocted a great way to get votes for their candidates: promise a nice, powerful gun.
How about an AR 15? The South Carolina Republicans’ offer is the same but slightly different.
In a Republican primary, there are few constituencies more politically motivated — and therefore more important to reach — than passionate gun owners. And with today’s campaigns making critical contact with voters online, free guns seemed to be one of the easiest ways to cut through the noise.
“This is just a more aggressive version of things campaigns are already doing,” said Zac Moffatt, who oversaw Mitt Romney’s digital strategy in 2012 and founded the firm Targeted Victory, which develops online campaigns. “You’ve got to break through,” he added, noting that guns would undoubtedly draw in potential voters who could be invaluable to a Republican candidate. “It could get you a couple extra thousand votes you didn’t otherwise know about.”
Lee Bright, a state senator from South Carolina who is challenging Senator Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary, has given away two guns, one online and one by direct mail. In the online drawing, the prize was an AR-15 rifle. …NYT
If Republicans win in your state, you might want to shut down schools and movie theatres.