But underneath the lower profile on guns was the assurance that the Gore-Lieberman campaign of fear would rely heavily on guns, gunowners and the NRA to be their bogeymen. Actually, the Democrats spent a good deal of time attacking Texas Gov. George W. Bush's gun record, Dick Cheney's votes against gun legislation, and the Republican-controlled Congress. They will be repeating their claims on the national stump until Nov. 7, as well as using the gun issue to flay Republicans in swing congressional districts. A squadron of guncontrol advocates on Aug. 16 called Bush an extremist who lets Texans take guns to church and protects gunmakers from lawsuits, even as 80 Americans die in gun crimes every day, according to The Dallas Morning News. Cuomo and others focused on a pair of votes that Bush's running mate, Cheney, cast while representing Wyoming in Congress.
Nobody likes being labeled an extremist on the right or the left.
After all, even real extremists in politics try to duck that label. But since joining the GOP ticket, Cheney has tried to distance himself from the gun votes and other similarly politically incorrect votes he recorded while in Congress. He vowed to follow Bush's lead on the issues. Democrats still see the gun issue as a winner, especially among suburban women-but they don't want to make it high profile either. The challenge, he said, is that most voters don't perceive much difference between the candidates on the issue of guns.