Elections Tomorrow!

UPDATED 3:43 PM, Monday, November 1, 2010 -- Here is a piece from Buckeye Firearms Association's Ken Hanson, which touches to the Kasich/Strickland battle for the hearts and minds of gun owners better than anything I have published. Nicely written Ken!

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I had a long, enlightening conversation with Steve Elliot yesterday about the upcoming elections and the expected tidal wave of "more conservative" lawmakers expected to be swept into office with Tuesday's national vote.

Steve, along with his wife, Annette, operate C&E/Showmasters Gun Shows. Steve was in Columbus for a show at Westland mall over the weekend and I was working with Mike Regan and Jim Pryor at the NRA member recruiting table. It was a good weekend for both the family show, as well as for NRA new memberships.

Our conversation covered a number of races across the U.S., and here in Ohio. The differences between Gov. Ted Strickland and challenger John Kasich. Strickland endorsed by the NRA and and A+ rated candidate because of his long, long, long time support of the 2A, and firearms owners. But he is a supporter of President Obama.... And Kasich, somewhat more fiscally conservative and, until very recently, hostile to and then absolutely silent on the 2A, though he is finally making some noise in the closing days of the election that he is a pro-gun guy. His vote for the assault weapon ban when he was in Congress in '94 doesn't help him terribly, and the fact that when he launched his race for governor he wanted his surrogates to go out and tell people he wouldn't take their guns -- rather than do it himself -- raised A LOT of eyebrows. Damn cowardly, most said, including this author. Plus, it was a clear sign he hadn't changed his stripes. But, like I said, lately he has made some positive noise himself on the subject. Finally!, Although his surrogates filed a claim complaining that his "F" rating from the NRA is false (as publicized in an ad by the Strickland camp), that claim was thrown out because the info in the ad is.... wait for it.... TRUE!

We chatted extensively about the Cordray vs. DeWine race for Ohio AG. The former gun control supporter (democrat Cordray) who now says nice things about guns, vs. the former U.S. Senator who is the only republican from the Senate ever to be endorsed by the Brady campaign. I really wish Cordray had signed with other state attorneys general stating that he did not want to see the meaningless assault weapons ban from 1994 re-instituted. Across the aisle, DeWine really wants to be Ohio governor, but after being soundly defeated in his last senatorial election (mostly because gun owners and other conservatives wouldn't support another term for the RINO) he is settling for a run at AG in order to get into the state office "rotation."

And in the closely watched Ohio 15th congressional election, where first term congresswoman and gun control supporter Mary Jo Kilroy is being challenged by former state senator Steve Stivers, the race is close, but leaning toward Stivers. Stivers is pro-gun, but the fact that he was a bank lobbyist about 10 years ago (he has done many other things since) is being dredged up because Kilroy's campaign is grasping at straws in order to get traction.

In our conversation, Steve Elliot noted that in a number of earlier, already-decided races -- Brown in Massachusetts, Christie in New Jersey, and another guy in Virginia -- the polls had their numbers in place right up until voting time. Interestingly, the conservatives won, in almost every case, by 10 points higher than the polls were projecting. So what does that say about Tuesday night's results? Could we see something similar? Where voter disgust for the ridiculous economics of "hope and change" and the harm it is causing our economy and our families is higher than the pollsters are showing? Could there be not just a tidal wave of conservatives swept into office, but by significantly higher vote margins than anyone anticipates?

Who knows? One thing is for sure. There is a clear "throw the bums out" mentality across America right now. If you are an incumbant, you are in danger. If you are a left-leaning incumbant, in most (not all) cases you are in REAL danger of losing your election. And you know it!

The legacy media, in typical PSH mode, is freaking out about the election. Nina Totenberg at NPR is saying she is very worried about the outcome of the election. Geez Nina aren't you supposed to keep your opinions of how you "feel" to yourself? Isn't that what got Juan Williams fired? And Chris Matthews over at MSNBC on his Hardball show was having kittens because a couple of conservative candidates, Sharon Angle among them I believe, said something about the Second Amendent coming into play if the country continues down the road it is on with the treasure of the nation's citizens being looted to pay for more and more social programs. Matthews and one of his panelists both opined that "this is not the way we do things in America."

Er, uh, Mr. Matthews, I am surprised I have to break this to you. You seem like such a smart guy. But it did happen one time previously. I know you are the world's foremost authority, but PLEASE consult a book on American history....

I and many other policy-wonk types expect to stay up all night and watch returns come in. I have been invited to a few candidate parties to watch the election results being tallied but not sure if I will head out. May hit a local pub and watch with a friend. But Steve's take was interesting. "There won't be any need to watch it all night," he said in his familiar Virginia drawl. "This thing will be over by nine o'clock."

And there you have it. Other than to see what happens with Harry Reid's race for survival against Sharron Angle in Nevada, or to see Barbara Boxer squirm out in California, the sea change will likely hit the institutional Left like a brick wall almost immediately after the polls close.

And it may, indeed, be a very good night for the 2A, and for preserving liberties in the face of a two-year firestorm storm intrusion into the market, and our lives, by the federal government.