Politicians seek votes from outdoorsmen

Unfortunately, the recently completed general election hasn't ended much of the finger pointing and name-calling.

While never voting for previous president Bill Clinton, I don't recall being reduced to absolute hatred as displayed by some letter-writers or political pundits, nor did it make me want to leave the country as several entertainers have threatened to do. I'm proud to be an American, and whoever is President isn't going to change that for me.

Pat Lefemine, founder of Bowsite.com, may have been the first to note that while a strong majority of sportsmen (and women) voted for George W. Bush, a subtle victory for gun owners had taken place even before Ohio was finally called for the incumbent. In the waning weeks of the campaign, challenger John Kerry began to openly appeal to hunters for their votes. Despite being endorsed by animal rights and gun control advocates, Kerry made very publicized attempts to court the hunting vote.

Granted, Kerry had shown quite an amazing ability to be on both sides of many issues. And while these pro-hunting attempts were pretty transparent — he recalled hunting deer by belly-crawling with a double-barreled shotgun — the very fact that he tried to use hunting to appeal to working-class voters was a real breakthrough.

Another subtle win was how most liberals up for election stayed far away from the topic of gun control. I don't think that means a Democrat majority wouldn't vote to restrict gun ownership further, but it may reflect that gun control is not a winning political issue with most Americans at present. I think the average citizen believes in all of the Constitution, including the Second Amendment.

I've always wondered why Democrats don't abandon their gun control stance, and instead embrace the leisure activity (hunting) and Second Amendment (gun ownership) that are popular with so many of the working-class folks they claim to represent. Maybe now is the time they will do just that.

Such a change would then pit both major parties against each other in trying to earn the vote of the sportsman. And if Democrats began to appeal to hunters (leaving the animal rights advocates with the Green Party?), then sportsmen could find themselves with both parties supporting them. And that would be a win-win situation.

That might also put the majority of media on both coasts in the awkward spot of having to give hunting legitimate coverage. A post-election interview with Senator-elect John Thune, who unseated Tom Daschle in South Dakota, seemed to catch MSNBC's Chris Mathews off-guard when Thune said his next order of business was to go pheasant hunting. Mathews wanted to know what he did with the birds and Thune replied, "We clean them and eat them. You should try it some time."

This election may have yielded a shift in fortunes for the sportsman. Almost imperceptible unless one knows what to look for, it may be something that even those Democratic voters who are reading this column can take heart in.