At a Philadelphia fundraiser on Friday, Obama explained his new tactic for dealing with Republicans’ attacks. “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” he told the audience. And bloggers, of course, are all over this latest Obama line. At Pajamas Media, Bob Owens explains that this is “ironic–because the fact of the matter is that the Obama campaign recognizes no constitutional right to own firearms for personal or community defense.” At Michelle Malkin’s blog, see-dubya adds, “Obama was infamously quoted as wanting to roll back concealed carry laws. Apparently he sees some utility in them after all, at least when you’re under knife attack.” And Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey asks, “Is he endorsing concealed-carry and the right of people to defend themselves with firearms? Or are people only allowed to ‘bring a gun’ to defend themselves in debates, rather than in life-and-death situations?” What does this latest line tell us about Obama’s politics? The Los Angeles Times‘s Andrew Malcolm says, “Is this the new kind of politician full of hope who wants to change Washington’s ways? He anticipates some kind of close-in fighting with his 71-year-old opponent, John McCain, and his gang of GOP suits with their own secret signs?” The Political Machine’s Dave thinks that “Obama is reassuring supporters that despite his lofty rhetoric about a new kind of politics, he is willing to go into the gutter if he needs to, heck he will go deeper into the gutter!” And at Contentions, Jennifer Rubin adds that this line is “a schoolyard taunt, not the language of a presidential nominee.” Should McCain be worried? Probably not, but as the McCain Report says, “we’re having second thoughts about our proposed series of town halls.”
