WHAT THEY DON'T SAY IN THE DEBATES

McCain, Palin, Earmarks, and the DNA of Bears and Harbor Seals

Last Friday, at the onset of the ongoing congressional struggle over our "main street economic rescue package," fifty million of us watched Republican presidential candidate John McCain debate his Democratic rival Barack Obama. And tonight, as Congress is finishing up our economic rescue, even more than fifty million of us will watch Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin face off with Democrat Joe Biden.

Based on what happened in that presidential debate, I strongly suspect she won't say anything about the grizzly bear or harbor seal DNA.

mccain vs. obama

The State of the Race in the Rockies

Emboldened Democrats spent the summer eagerly looking West with the expectation of picking up electoral votes in the Rockies while skittish Republicans have fretted about losing what once was a reliably red region. In particular, Barack Obama's campaign has been courting voters in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico -- all states carried by George W. Bush in 2004. Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, have campaigned extensively in the Rockies and -- perhaps most telling -- Democrats decided to stage their convention in Denver in an effort to reach out to the region's voters. But all this was before the Republican National Convention and the arrival of the much-loved and much-loathed Sarah Palin. An unpretentious Idaho native and the governor of the wildest of Western states, many assumed that she would crush the Democrats' Mountain West insurgency. Now that we have some distance from the conventions -- and before the debates commence -- it's a reasonable time to examine where the race stands in the Rockies.

Guest Commentary

American Hunters and Shooters Association Responds to its Critics

Editor's Note: If you visit NewWest.Net regularly, you know I've frequently written about the gun issue, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the rival organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). Every time I mention AHSA, commenters claim the group is nothing but a front for anti-gun groups or the ultra-liberal wing of the Democratic Party, or both. To address these concerns, I asked the ASHA to respond in detail to these claims. The Advisory Board of the AHSA prepared the following guest commentary exclusively for NewWest.Net.--Bill Schneider

The recent national Slash and Burn: Why Does the National Rifle Association Leadership Support Congress's Biggest Opponents of Conservation?", a report prepared by the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) to shed light on NRA’s dismal conservation record, has once again fired up the old McCarthy-style, NRA-attack machine.

Rather than question the accuracy of the report, AHSA critics, once again dredge up old character attacks of AHSA leadership and guilt by association innuendo. In the past the AHSA leadership has not responded to the ridiculous NRA attacks, but now may be the best time to publicly respond to the absurd allegations that many NRA apologists on the internet feel compelled repeat.

From The New West Blog

McCain, Obama Talk Sportsmen’s Issues with Field & Stream

Outdoor magazine Field & Stream has posted interviews with presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, providing insights into their positions on conservation, energy exploration and gun rights.

While neither candidate hunts or owns a gun, both have been busy wooing those who do -- especially as the Rocky Mountain West has emerged as a battleground.

A cursory summary after the jump.

WHAT IS THE CONGRESSIONAL SPORTSMEN'S FOUNDATION HIDING?

Refusal to Release Survey Details Casts Doubt on Pro-McCain Poll

My July 9 column titled, Hunters, Look Beyond the End of Your Gun Barrel, urged hunters to look at the big picture instead of basing their vote exclusively on the gun rights issue, which I consider basically over since politicians won't touch it and the Supreme Court has finally reaffirmed the individual's right to bear arms. The column wasn't about whether Barack Obama is more anti-gun than John McCain, even though most of the comments were. It was about voting for the candidate who would do the most to protect wildlife habitat and hunting access and therefore help save our hunting tradition.

Ironically, on the same day I posted that column, the Los Angeles Times ran an article about a new poll showing hunters preferred McCain over Obama by a 14-point margin.

This didn't jive with my feel for how hunters view the big race, so I decided to check out this survey.

Then, it got interesting.

Guest Column

In the Prism of the Farm Bill, Obama Looks Right

U.S. agriculture provides the safest and most abundant food supplies at the lowest prices in the world. As consumers, we are all affected by the farm bills passed by the U.S. Congress every three to five years and signed by the president. They set the policies for production, health, safety, and distribution -- including exports -- of the nation's food supplies.

Farm bills do not just happen. Each takes months of study, discussion, debate and compromise. For the complicated, tiring passage of a farm bill, there are grandstanders like Sen. John McCain and farm policy advocates like Sen. Barack Obama.

Struckman’s Pick: Get the National Journal Online

By far the most comprehensive and insightful political convention coverage this year has come from the National Journal, usually considered a thorough but boring insider's record of Beltway politics.

Now is the time to shine, though, for those reporters and editors who have been at the politics game long enough to know the ins and outs but still fresh enough to approach the coverage with energy and to do so broadly. OK. My point is this: If you're interested in what it's really like at the Republican National Convention this week -- beyond the tabloid-driven revelations about Sen. John McCain's running mate's daughter -- or if you want an honest account of what impact the news has made at the convention, go to the National Journal.

Democratic National Convention in Denver

Obama Accepts Nomination, Pays Service to Western Issues

Sen. Barack Obama accepted the nomination for Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States before a packed stadium at the Invesco Field in Denver on the final day of his party's national convention. (Click the link to see the whole speech.)

He told Americans not to be afraid of ambitious dreams. His grandfather, after taking him to see the astronauts after their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, told him: "Americans, we can do everything, if we put our minds to it."

Analysis: This Year’s Election a Win-Win for Montana

The presidential election this year is a win-win for Montana, said Bob Brown of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula.

Both candidates will enter the presidency with some knowledge of western issues, and maybe with Montana on their minds, said Brown, a Republican and former Montana Secretary of State, early Thursday.