Inside Politics

Kerry misfire?

“Was Dem presidential hopeful John Kerry seen this weekend waving a gun which would have been banned if legislation he co-sponsored became law?” Matt Drudge asks at his Web site (www.drudgereport.com).

“Kerry co-sponsored S. 1431 last year (The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003), which would have banned a ‘semiautomatic shotgun that has a pistol grip,’” Mr. Drudge said.

“Opponents of the bill successfully argued how nearly all guns have ‘pistol grips,’ including millions of Browning Auto-5 shotguns produced since 1903.

“Photos show Kerry’s hand resting on the ‘pistol grip,’ as loosely defined in the bill. [Section SEC. 2; (H) (ii) and (b)(42): ‘The term “pistol grip” means a grip, a thumbhole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.’]

“Kerry was presented with the semiautomatic shotgun during a Labor Day stop in Racine, W.Va.

“‘I thank you for the gift, but I can’t take it to the debate with me,’ Kerry told a cheering crowd as he held up the device.

“But Kerry’s gun bill would have also banned any ‘gift’ transaction,” Mr. Drudge said, adding, “It is not clear if Kerry completed the required paperwork (Form 4473) before he claimed the gun.”

Preacher Zell

“I didn’t know until I saw replays on television that Zell Miller looked angry during his convention speech — like a Baptist preacher going after flagrant sins,” Michael Novak writes at National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com).

“From where I sat in Madison Square Garden, Miller looked like he was having a grand old time, getting something big off his chest with as much zest, gusto, and good ol’ Baptist invective as he could,” said Mr. Novak, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

“People all around the country reacted to Zell as I did. My sister, who was in Cincinnati at a six-week consultation of nuclear engineers and other technicians from all over the country, told me the next morning that all anybody could talk about in the usually silent and grumpy early morning breakfast room was Zell Miller. They loved the speech.

“Some were former Democrats, some were Republicans angry at Bush for one reason or another (the war, the spending, etc.), but Miller was speaking for many of them when he explained why he did not want to vote for this Democrat. My sister was the co-chair of Jimmy Carter’s winning campaign in Michigan in 1976, and Zell spoke for her, too.

“To quibble over whether Zell was right on this or that point, or as fair and balanced as the reporters of the Associated Press, or as evenhanded as Joe Klein, is to miss the point when listening to a Baptist sermon, rendered by a Southern populist who relishes his heritage.”

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