Author: craigcrawford

Give Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) credit for creative use of her unique opportunity to elude rules against cell phones and cameras on the House floor during the recent Democratic sit-in protesting for gun votes.

The Iraq war veteran hid her smartphone in her prosthetic leg. The the first female double amputee from the war is also the first disabled woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Duckworth spokesperson Kaitlin Fahey: “For the next 16 hours, Rep. Duckworth shared the names of Illinoisans killed by gun violence, captured photos and videos of her colleagues after Republicans turned off C-SPAN’s cameras, and eventually even got out of her wheelchair and sat on the floor — all to protest Congress’ inaction.”

Last week Politico named Duckworth’s challenge against GOP Sen. Mark Kirk the #1 Senate campaign most likely to produce a switch in parties this fall. The Washington Post called it the “most competitive Senate race in 2016.” Roll Call labeled Kirk “the most vulnerable Senator in the country.” 

Here are the two Clinton ads that appear to be exclusively airing in heavy rotation in the Central Florida market where I’ve been for a week. Have seen them run as much as twice each in a single half-hour local newscast. No Trump ads spotted so far. Social media videos, fun and games have their place but this is the heavy artillery:

from her Super PAC, PrioritiesUSA …

from the Clinton campaign …

Led by one who knows how — Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) — House Democrats, frustrated by the GOP’s refusal to allow votes on gun bills, staged a sit-in on the chamber floor.

NYT: House Democrats’ Gun-Control Sit-In Turns Into Chaotic Showdown With Republicans

House Democrats shout Paul Ryan down as he tries to stop sit-in

It’s become a national formula: Mass Shooting > Public Outrage > Anti-Gun Votes on Capitol Hill > NRA Says No = Nothing Happens (until the next killings re-boot the equation).

Will the deadliest of all machine-gun rampages in U.S. history yield a different outcome in Senate voting? University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato says that, still again, no version not approved by the NRA will make it.

Monday (6/20) Evening Update:
Senate votes down proposed measures

Here’s what was rejected (courtesy USA TODAY):

• An amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would allow the attorney general to deny a gun sale to anyone if she has a “reasonable belief” — a lesser standard than “probable cause” — that the buyer was likely to engage in terrorism. The proposal is popularly known as the “no-fly, no-buy” amendment, but wouldn’t just apply to people on the “no fly” terrorist watch list.
• A Republican alternative by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, which would require that law enforcement be alerted when anyone on the terror watch list attempts to buy a weapon from a licensed dealer. If the buyer has been investigated for terrorism within the past five years, the attorney general could block a sale for up to three days while a court reviews the sale.
• An amendment by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, would make it more difficult to add mentally ill people to the background check database, giving people suspected of serious mental illness a process to challenge that determination.
• An amendment by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that would close the “gun show loophole” by requiring every gun purchaser to undergo a background check, and to expand the background check database.

Obama in Orlando (June 16, 2016)