New Rasmussen surveys show stronger support for the Second Amendment among likely voters than for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump (shown above). NRA has endorsed Trump. (Dave Workman photo)
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Two different Rasmussen surveys, taken within days of one another in August, show a higher degree of importance for the Second Amendment among likely U.S. voters than support for either Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton or Republican nominee Donald Trump.
One of those surveys also shows more support (54%) for the National Rifle Association among likely voters than for Clinton at 43 percent and Trump at 40 percent, as revealed by a separate survey.
According to Rasmussen, “Nearly two-out-of-three voters (65%) say the Second Amendment is important to their vote in the upcoming elections, with 47% who say the issue is Very Important.”
How this plays out in November remains to be seen, but for Clinton, it may not be good news, provided all of those voters cast their ballots with gun rights in mind. Second Amendment activists are already pressing gun owners to vote, and if they are not registered to vote, the registration effort is also underway.
Back in 2015, Clinton made gun control a cornerstone of her presidential campaign. She publicly ignited a political war with the NRA. This came during an Oct. 13, 2015 debate at which she declared the NRA as the enemy she is most proud of
At the organization’s annual convention in May, the NRA endorsed Trump. He has repeatedly declared support for gun owners and their rights under the Second Amendment.
Clinton’s willingness to wage war on the NRA, and by default, every activist gun owner in the country, may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but this Rasmussen report suggests otherwise. There are, by some estimates, 90-100 million gun owners in the country, of which approximately 5 million are NRA members. That leaves tens of millions of potential voters who may not be members of NRA, but they might be affiliated with other gun rights organizations, either nationally or at the state and local levels. And they may side with NRA on Nov. 8.
If they get fired up enough to descend on the polls as they did in November 1994, when Clinton’s husband, Bill, lost control of Congress for the remainder of his presidency, Hillary could be in trouble, despite various polls saying she leads Trump by double digits. All she needs to continue doing is to keep railing against gun owners.
Most significant, depending upon how one reads polls, is that only 21 percent of likely voters say NRA’s endorsement of Trump makes them more likely to vote for him, Rasmussen noted. A plurality of 47 percent say the endorsement has no impact on their voting decision, the survey revealed.
It just might be that most of those voters have already made up their minds. The endorsement might turn out to be the proverbial “frosting on the cake” for Trump, provided Clinton continues to be seen as a threat to Second Amendment rights.
If she is elected, she will be appointing the next round of federal judges and Supreme Court justices.
