Jesse Kelly, Republican Seeking Gabrielle Giffords' Arizona Seat, Shown With Gun In Super PAC Ad

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

A super PAC supporting Jesse Kelly, the Republican vying for Gabrielle Giffords' congressional seat, is using a photo of the candidate holding a gun in new ads.

The website for the Move America Forward Freedom PAC features a graphic showing Kelly in a suit alongside a photo of him holding a gun. (The super PAC backs former members of the military who are seeking office. Kelly is a former Marine.) According to NPR, the image was also used in a fundraising email.

Giffords stepped down from Congress roughly a year after being shot in the head during a meeting with constituents at a Tucson grocery store in January 2011. Kelly has recently received criticism for his past arguments against Giffords, including a 2010 claim he made that she is "a hero of nothing."

Kelly has since changed his tone, with one supporter telling The Arizona Republic that the candidate is "far more mature now than he was two years ago." Kelly's campaign has recently promoted the Republican as a family man, touting photos of Kelly with his wife and sons and airing a television ad featuring Kelly's grandfather.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/jesse-kelly-gun-ad_n_1579100.html

[Swede Atlanta]

1. What is it with the righties and their guns.....

If I were a psychiatrist I might have better ideas on what causes their fixation with their guns. As a layman I can only think of 3 possibilities even though I'm sure there are many, many more.

1. They feel threatened. They know the demographics in this country are going to leave bald, fat, white men in the minority very soon. Further while they continue to vote against their economic interests and are being crushed economically, somehow their transference of that anger is not against those oppressing them but against those that are different. Those differences are in sex (attacks on women), gays, immigrants, non-Xtians, liberals, etc.

2. They see political payback. Some of them I'm sure think if they brandish their guns it will scare the other side. Their threats of "2nd Amendment remedies" are a good example. But some see wrapping themselves in the flag, brandishing a gun and wearing a big cross on their chest makes God want to love them even more and assure them victory.

3. While those two are interesting, I still think some of this has to do with a sense of threat to their sexuality. This applies equally to women as men but especially men. I think some men equate carrying that big firearm as giving them more sexual bravado. They equate their firearm capability with their sexual prowess and size. I am convinced this is the case with some of these righties' mentality. For women I think the gun represents a desire for a bigger clitoris. Seriously, I think some of them are that far gone in their thinking.

[joeglow3]

5. How about #4: he is touting his service

I agree that it is sad that he feels the need to pick a picture with a gun. However, I think it has more to do with the tried and true strategy of using military service as the reason why someone would make a great politician.

[secondwind]

2. I feel like leaving the country if Romney wins. Seriously. I had a long talk with a

very active Democrat friend of mine yesterday, she is an ex-lobbyist, and worked hard for Obama in '08, even going to six states to work for him.

She tells me that many of her Democrat friends here in MA are not voting for him this time around.

This is very depressing. We didn't get the message across to these people that we've all been HAD by a giant CON GAME manipulated by Big Banks and Wall Street that has siphoned off 23 trilion dollars of our money, and no one knows where it went.

And now Europe is blaming Obama? I give up.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Kelly is "far more mature now"?

He's still a totin' wahoo.

I hope he gets his ass kicked.

[KansDem]

4. In all fairness, he's touting his ex-Marine status

[think]

6. Who invited supporters to come shoot an M-16 as part of his 2010 campaign:

http://firedoglake.com/2011/01/08/giffords-opponent-jesse-kelly-held-june-event-to-shoot-a-fully-automatic-m16-to-get-on-target-and-remove-gabrielle-giffords/

[enough]

7. If he's doing that, why not balance the photo of him in a suit with a photo of him in his

Marine uniform?

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. +1

That's not dramatic enough to get the base stirred up, I guess.

[KansDem]

11. Sorry, I thought that's what the image on the right was...

I take it you mean an image with him in only his Marine uniform with no gun. Perhaps his dress blues?

[sarisataka]

12. You are right

In the image he has on a military issue t-shirt, likely the full photo would have him wearing BDU trousers.

I don't really have an issue with a picture from his service time holding a gun but they should have chose one that clearly has him in a uniform.

[enough]

13. Thank you, I am corrected. Yes I was thinking of a more formal uniform. Thanks for the

clarification.

[Vincent89]

9. Spam deleted by Violet_Crumble (MIR Team)

[roody]

10. Why?