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Sen. Toomey Receives Gabby Giffords Endorsement

Sen. Toomey Receives Gabby Giffords Endorsement

Could this boost the vulnerable GOP Senator over his Democrat opponent?

The GOP has worried it may lose its Senate majority in November and Toomey may be one of the victims.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has received an endorsement from former Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords as he faces a tough reelection in November.

The endorsement from Giffords and her anti-gun violence group Americans for Responsible Solutions might be just what Toomey needs to defeat his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty, who has slightly pulled ahead in four polls.

So why would the former Democrat Congresswoman choose the GOP incumbent over the Democrat?

The political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions, said it hopes to line up more support for its cause among congressional Republicans like Toomey. At the same time, its backing could help the incumbent, locked in an ever-closer race with Democrat Katie McGinty, attract moderate voters.

Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, announced the endorsement in an opinion piece written for CNN – but said their decision in Pennsylvania was difficult. They called McGinty “a passionate advocate for gun violence prevention” who would be “a consistent vote for life-saving gun safety laws.”

A mentally ill man shot Giffords and 18 others in Tucson, AZ, in 2011. Six people died in the attack. Since then, Giffords and her husband have pushed for major gun restrictions across the country.

Their group said Toomey “broke from the gun lobby” in 2013 when he voted “to expand background checks to gun purchases online and at gun shows.” He responded:

“I have long said that we must work together to forge a bipartisan consensus on gun safety, rather than talk past one another with partisan rhetoric,” Toomey said in a statement Monday.

McGinty and her campaign criticized the move, insisting “her positions on gun control are more in line with Giffords,'” and that Toomey is not a leader on gun safety:

“After tragedies like San Bernardino, like Orlando, the senator was literally begged to reintroduce his legislation and refused, saying, ‘Let’s let the Democrats take the lead,’ ” she said.

FOX 29 reported:

Toomey opposed Democrats’ bills to close the terrorist loophole because, he said, of the barriers they would create for someone who is mistakenly put on a terrorist watch list and blocked from buying a gun.

Rather, Toomey supported a Republican measure to block such purchases, legislation that Democrats defeated and criticized as being ineffective. GOP leaders did not allow a vote on a proposed compromise bill Toomey drafted in June, and he sided with Democrats on another proposed compromise sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The NRA opposed Collins’ bill, and Republicans defeated it.

Toomey also has the backing of anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City.

On Tuesday, Roll Call reported that they’ve changed the election from “Tilts Republican to Tossup.” McGinty has pulled ahead in four polls:

“Is Katie McGinty benefiting from Hillary Clinton’s 10 point lead over Donald Trump in Pennsylvania,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Is she engaging Sen. Pat Toomey in her own right, or is it a little bit of both? Any way you cut it, this first timer is giving the incumbent a run for his money.”

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Comments

Toomey is one of the best senators there, and his so-called “compromises” on the 2A are much more window-dressing than substance. His “moderate” position is exactly the same as the hard-line position of a few years ago. So if these endorsements can put him over the top it was worth it.

“Forge a bipartisan consensus” Pat Toomey. I used to think Toomey was a more or less, kinda – sorta OK.
This puts that to bed. He’s become a Mitch McConnell, bipartisan consensus, GODP D.C. majority kind of guy.
So I again ask the oft asked question ; why should we care if this sellout gets reelected?

The takeover of the Republican party by the Democrats continues apace.

Sad that the Dems and her husband keep telling the world that Gabby is an anti-gun advocate. Fact is her mind has not worked correctly since the bullet in her brains scrambled everything. Since then, people have been writing editorials for her using words and logic far beyond her reasoning ability. She might challenge Donald on who can say the the most infantile things – but that is where her superiority ends.

    I’ve been saying this for some time now. Gabby’s speech patterns, syntax, mannerisms, etc., more closely resemble those of a small child. She NEVER answers direct questions anymore. She is brought out, she delivers a prepared (and no doubt, heavily rehearsed) speech, and then she’s led away again. She gets “interviewed”, but those interviews invariably feature her husband Mark Kelly sitting with her, and it’s him that does most of the talking.

    I’m no doctor, but I seriously question her mental capacity due to her injury. I don’t believe she is able to form a coherent opinion on her own, let alone a rational argument to support it.

    IOW, she’s a puppet. A “gun violence victim” they can trot out to excite the masses, that they put away after the show is over. I don’t blame her for it — it’s not her fault — any more than you blame a toddler for uttering a curse word they heard their parents say. I DO blame her husband for a) allowing the sideshow to continue, and b) actively taking part in it.

      Rick the Curmudgeon in reply to Archer. | August 25, 2016 at 11:56 pm

      Gabby Giffords is “intelligent furniture” and her husband is a sleazy side-show operator.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has received an endorsement from former Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords as he faces a tough reelection in November.

Giffords doesn’t know if it’s raining or Tuesday.

This is grotesque.

Only a subhuman would participate in such a disgusting farce.

“He’s worse on our Constitutional Rights than the Democrat!”

Yeah, that’ll help turn out the R base in PA to vote for him.

An “endorsement” like this is the kiss of death.

Toomey’s a RINO and needs to go home. Let a truthful liberal hold the seat instead of a two faced liar.

buckeyeminuteman | August 25, 2016 at 12:55 pm

A Republican who sides with Democrats on controlling my guns? There has been no compromise from the Dems for 7 years now, why should a Conservative vote for a RINO who wants to do just that? Given the choice between Toomey and a Dem, “what difference at this point does it make?”

    Given the choice between Toomey and a Dem, “what difference at this point does it make?”

    At this point, the difference is, ironically, the Dem is being honest about screwing you and your Constitutional rights.

    Neither of them will respect you in the morning, but at least the Dem challenger is up-front about it.

Anti-Gun Violence Advocate Gabby Giffords Endorses Pat Toomey

Sorry, but someone has to point out the obvious double meaning:

A “Violence Advocate” who’s Anti-Gun? Say it ain’t so! 😉

(Stuff like this is why I will hyphenate more than two words together when it produces a clearer meaning, even if MLA rules say that’s a grammatical no-no. “Anti-Gun-Violence Advocate” avoids the double meaning that “Anti-Gun Violence Advocate” carries.)

Clever move on the Dems side to create enough animosity amongst the pro-gun PA folk to defect to ????? in order to enhance McGinty’s chances to get elected.

    Gun-owning Republicans’ unwillingness to reward Toomey with another term in office, is a debacle of Toomey’s own creation. The Dems had nothing to do with it.

    Just think: when the AWBs and gun registration were on the table, all Toomey had to was … nothing. But instead, he collaborated with an anti-gun Dem to create the “Manchin-Toomey” UBC bill.

    He made this mess himself. The Dems are only trying to capitalize on it.