The NRA was certainly tempted to endorse Harry Reid, as TWS reported, in order to keep a gun-control backer like Chuck Schumer or Dick Durbin from becoming Senate Majority Leader, but the gun-rights group is announcing today that it will not endorse Reid in his re-election bid in Nevada. Why not?
The official answer: you can’t square Harry Reid’s votes for Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court with support for the Second Amendment. (Of course, there also would have been a huge revolt by grassroots NRA members if they endorsed Reid.)
Here’s the statement from the NRA’s Chris Cox:
The vote on Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Court, along with the previous year’s confirmation vote on Sonia Sotomayor, are critical for the future of the Second Amendment. After careful consideration, the NRA-PVF announced today that it will not be endorsing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for re-election in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Nevada.
A new Mason-Dixon poll out today shows Reid with a one point lead over Republican candidate Sharron Angle (45% to 44%). That matches up with the Real Clear Politics average of polls, which shows Reid up 1.3%.
