If you read local newspapers on the ground in the Granite State, it becomes pretty clear that the national media's drive-by attack on Kelly Ayotte is rooted in the liberal media's desire to push gun control, not the actual facts on the ground. The faux fury over Ayotte's vote against the Manchin-Toomey gun background check bill is rather underwhelming, in fact.
To make one thing absolutely clear, there were more Ayotte supporters than detractors at the town hall where Erica Lafferty attacked Ayotte for her vote. Lafferty, you may recall, is the daughter of the slain Sandy Hook Elementary School principal. Shawn Millerick of the New Hampshire Journal reported today that anti-Ayotte protests outside a town hall appearance were staged by Organizing for Action -- which is basically an undead form of the Obama for America presidential campaign:
The media certainly covered what they wanted to see. The New York Times, the Washington Post and Politico all created the impression that Ayotte faced a firestorm of criticism at her town hall meetings. Only Politico, in its second story on the controversy, bothered to mention the following:
But there is also ample support for the senator, with supporters holding up signs that said, “N.H. Stands with Kelly.” Ayotte received standing ovations from the crowd in this timber-industry town, drowning out those who were booing her. The National Rifle Association has also aired radio ads expressing its support for Ayotte.
The truth is, Ayotte enjoys a great deal of support for her vote in this Live Free or Die State. And the elite media would do well to shine a light on those who were protesting her, as Fox News did on Wednesday night. See the below clip featuring an Obama-sponsored protester holding a sign splattered with fake blood politicizing the Boston marathon bombing.
Millerick also noted that the protestors were mostly from out-of-state, and as such could not effect the outcome of Ayotte’s re-election bid in 2016, even though the Astroturf rally made it seem, on the surface, like that were the case.
Veteran political journalists who work for national news organization are not stupid nor novices to the campaign game. They know real grassroots energy when they see it and they have to know that the faux fury over Ayotte ain't it. Of course, noting as much cuts against the liberal narrative from the Washington-New York press corps, which desperately wants to shame the Senate into giving President Obama a gun control victory.
