{"id":3787,"date":"2008-10-01T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/10\/guns-become-the-focus-of-the-2nd-district-race\/"},"modified":"2008-10-01T14:20:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-01T20:20:00","slug":"guns-become-the-focus-of-the-2nd-district-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/10\/guns-become-the-focus-of-the-2nd-district-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Guns become the focus of the 2nd District race"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley<\/a> turned the focus of the race to guns last week when he unveiled an ad accusing Democratic opponent Harry Teague<\/a> of not being supportive of the Second Amendment<\/a> — and using an eight-year-old quote from Teague to back up the attack. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the 30-second spot, which is airing around the district:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSouthern New Mexico<\/st1:place> values the Second Amendment, unlike Harry Teague. He says he\u2019s not a gun fan, and it\u2019d be fine with him to turn his guns in to the government,\u201d Tinsley says in the ad. \u201cBut that\u2019s no surprise, because Harry Teague has liberal views.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The ad cites a Teague quote included in a Feb. 14, 2000 article published in the Albuquerque Journal<\/a>. Teague, who was then a member of the state Democratic Party\u2019s resolutions committee, was quoted as saying he supported many provisions in some resolutions being proposed at the time, including \u201cnew controls on campaign finances as well as gun control measures that hold owners responsible for safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cTeague, a Lea<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> commissioner, said he hunts and keeps \u2018seven or eight\u2019 guns in his house,\u201d the article states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI live out in the country, too, and I really am not a gun fan. We have so many people (in this country) who live on the ninth floor of an apartment building and really don\u2019t know what a gun really should be used for. It would be fine with me to turn my guns in and don\u2019t have them,\u201d the article quoted Teague as saying.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In response to the ad, the Teague campaign formed a bipartisan committee of gun owners who support him. The group was unveiled on Tuesday at a news conference attended by Teague and Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>, who has an \u201cA\u201d rating from the National Rifle Association<\/a>. At the event, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said there had been \u201cfalse attacks\u201d against Teague related to the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the reason this organization is being formed is to kill that fallacy that is out there, because nothing could be further from the truth,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201c\u2026 They\u2019re trying to distort Harry\u2019s record, which is an excellent record.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said Republicans aren\u2019t the only ones who support gun rights. The governor, who has a concealed-carry permit, pointed out his own NRA rating. He said Teague \u201cembraces Democratic values and takes our rights seriously,\u201d has been hunting since he was eight years old and supports the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The 2000 quote<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So what about the 2000 quote? Teague said at the news conference that he remembers \u201cvery well\u201d the conversation with the Journal reporter.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was right before we were going to have a commission meeting,\u201d said the former Lea<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> commissioner. \u201cWe\u2019d been laughing and having a good time and I made a few smart remarks rather facetiously. I remember two of them as being, \u2018I\u2019m no big gun fan. I only have seven or eight guns.\u2019 The humor got lost during the eight years and so did part of the quote. The other quote was that it would be fine with me for them to take my guns up if they give me a key to the armory.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you know, eight years ago I didn\u2019t know I was going to be running for Congress,\u201d Teague said. \u201cIf I had, I would have rephrased those quotes a little bit differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tinsley campaign spokesman Jim Pettit, in a news release sent before Teague explained the 2000 quote, said Teague \u201cwants to change history.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is on the record saying it would be fine to turn in his guns to the government. He is bothering people at home in a desperate attempt to erase his past comments through automated robocalls,\u201d Pettit said. \u201cHe has enlisted Gov. Bill Richardson to hold a press conference because he has a lot of explaining to do and needs help to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At the news conference, Teague said he\u2019s a strong proponent of the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThe Second Amendment is more than just a right. It\u2019s our way of life,\u201d he said. \u201cSo let me assure you, as a proud gun owner myself, and as your next congressman, I will stand strong every day for the Second Amendment and I will go to Congress to fight for the values of southern New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tinsley, in his ad, said he will \u201coppose the liberal agenda\u201d in Congress \u201cand stand with you.\u201d He said, \u201cThe right to own guns is part of our heritage. It\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The NRA hasn\u2019t yet ranked or endorsed federal candidates running for office in the Nov. 4 election.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tinsley\u2019s attack comes in the most conservative congressional district in the state. And any traction on a hot-button issue like gun ownership could work to a candidate\u2019s advantage headed into Election Day in what is perceived as a close race.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Internal poll had Teague leading a month ago<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

How close a race this is isn\u2019t known. But, as if on cue, the Teague campaign released today an internal poll that showed Teague leading by 5 percentage points at the beginning of September. Though it\u2019s not an independent or recent poll, it is the first 2nd District poll released publicly.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With 13 percent undecided, the poll had Teague leading 46 percent to 41 percent. The poll memo released by the Teague campaign doesn\u2019t include the question that was asked, but states that the results are based on a survey of 500 likely voters. The survey was conducted by Hamilton Campaigns<\/a> between Sept. 2 and 5 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for an explanation of the problems with internal polls. The bottom line: They\u2019re only released publicly if they are favorable to the campaign that conducted them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The memo accompanying Teague\u2019s new poll is evidence of that. It states that the previous poll conducted by Hamilton Campaigns on the race had Teague trailing by 3 points. That poll was never released publicly, and no additional information about it is revealed in the new internal poll\u2019s memo.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Regardless, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> touted the newer poll at Tuesday\u2019s news conference. Without revealing details because the campaign hadn\u2019t yet released it, he said it showed Teague in the lead.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHarry is going to win. I mean, we\u2019ve never had this congressional seat,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cHe has a base in the toughest area for Democrats — the Hobbs<\/st1:city>, Carlsbad<\/st1:city>, Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> area. He\u2019s going to do well and if he does well in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>, the race is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Tinsley campaign didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment on the poll.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 3:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pettit said he won\u2019t comment on Teague\u2019s \u201cpoll methodology,\u201d but did point out that Teague has vastly outspent Tinsley in the race.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is trying to change past positions on the Second Amendment<\/span><\/span>, supporting the troops in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and energy and economic issues. It requires a lot of advertising to try and change the record and attempt to rebrand a candidate,\u201d Pettit said. \u201cWe\u2019re not surprised his own polling data would attempt to justify the resources going into this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 3:55 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Teague released an ad responding to Tinsley\u2019s attack today. Here it is:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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This article has been updated. Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley turned the focus of the race to guns last week when he unveiled an ad accusing Democratic opponent Harry Teague of not being supportive of the Second Amendment — and using an eight-year-old quote from Teague to back up the attack. Here\u2019s the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}