Shoot the Messenger

"Rob O'Leary is the candidate of the NRA."
O'Leary has acheived what few Massachusetts liberals have ever received, an A grade from the National Rifle Association. Defined as a "solidly pro-gun candidate", that grade earns him an (√ ) endorsement from the NRA.

I don't know what O'Leary did, or didn't do, to deserve it, but what is even more bizarre is the Massachusetts Republican Party, and by extention his opponent in the Senate race, Gail Bronwyn Lese, sending a mailing to every voter in the district, this past weekend, telling voters of the endorsement.

Now anyone who knows O'Leary, knows he's a solid Democrat, with strong liberal leanings. In this race, he already has the registered democrats on his side, he has the liberals in his column, hell, he even has some liberal republicans in his corner, due to the environmental climate on the Cape.

But now he gets to lay claim to the gun enthusiasts, sportmen/hunters and the 2nd Amendment supporters, all constituencies that usually vote Republican. Courtesy of the Republican party and his republican opponent. And they even paid for the postage!

Desperation Makes You Do Funny Things
Any suggestion that Lese is going after O'Leary's base; democrats, liberals, or gun control advocates, is just plain nuts at this stage of the game. But that's exactly what they're doing.
It's the result of youth and inexperience. Both on the part of the candidate and her campaign manager.