NRA calls 2014 elections do-or-die for gun rights

“It is vital certainly to our issues, but it is vital to the well-being of this country,” said NRA President Jim Porter.

David Keene, former NRA president, said gun voters are motivated. Acknowledging that the president muddied the gun issue in the 2012 election, Keene said, “Now they know, and gun owners are like other people: Once fooled, the second time, it doesn’t work. So they know what the opposition is, they know how close it is in the Senate, they know that the Supreme Court could be at stake in the next few years.”

Laying out the plan to Secrets, Keene explained that in past elections where the NRA has weighed in, the group has made a difference of about 3 percent of the vote, enough in close elections to win. “This year it might be more than that, and in today’s world that’s everything,” he said.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam added the gun-rights group expects Democratic senators in conservative states to be attacked by Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns for their votes last April in support of gun rights.

“Bloomberg is not going away. What he’s going to do is double down. This is definitely not over yet. We still have a lot of work to do, with emphasis on ‘a lot,’ ” he said.

TOP DEM: ‘KIDNAP’ GROVER NORQUIST

To win support for raising gas taxes in Congress, even among Republicans, a former chairman of the Democratic Party has a tongue-in-cheek idea: Kidnap anti-tax champion Grover Norquist.

Without more money to fix America’s roads, ports and airports, “our backs are against the wall,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, the Democratic Party leader from 1999-2001. “What alternative to we have? I mean, kidnap Grover Norquist? What alternative do we have?” he said before adding, “Grover, if you’re listening, I was kidding.”

Norquist, president of the influential Americans for Tax Reform, is best known for getting lawmakers to sign a no-tax pledge. He suggested instead that the administration stop paying inflated union wages on road projects.

That, he said, would free up $10 billion annually. “You can build a lot of roads with that.”

JEB BUSH STEPS BACK INTO POLITICS

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, mulling a 2016 presidential bid, is re-entering politics to help Republicans keep control of the House.

In a new ad sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bush goes to bat for former Washington congressional aide Dave Jolly, the GOP nominee to replace the late Rep. Bill Young. Jolly faces well-funded Democrat Alex Sink in the upcoming special election March 11 in which Obamacare is a central issue.

But in his 30-second endorsement, Bush focused on jobs, wasteful spending and the “dysfunction” in Washington, broad issues that he would likely focus on if he decides to join the growing field of Republicans vying for the 2016 presidential nomination.

CRUZ WANTS ISRAEL READY TO HIT IRAN

Expanding his attack on the administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, Sen. Ted Cruz said that President Obama should end talks, demand that Tehran give up its nuclear program immediately and use military force if the terrorist nation doesn’t comply. And for good measure, he wants the Pentagon to ship “bunker buster” bombs to Israel to do the job.

A “responsible president,” the Texas Republican said, “would stand up and say unequivocally, in terms that allow no confusion, ‘Under no circumstances will the nation of Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapon capability, and they will either halt now or we will use every step necessary including direct military force to stop them.'”

And, he added, the U.S. should be giving Israel the right weapons if it needs to act first.

“At a very minimum,” the first-term senator said, “we should be making available bunker busters to Israel. That if Israel is going to be forced to defend itself, it should have the tools to effectively eliminate this program.”

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].