More backlash for pro-gun senators

More evidence has surfaced that the senators who sided with the gun lobby and opposed background checks for firearms purchases may be in political trouble due to a voter backlash.

In New Hampshire, long a pro-gun state, rookie Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s approval ratings have plunged since she voted against the background checks bill. The Manchin-Toomey amendment was supported by 75 percent of New Hampshire voters in the latest poll, including a majority of Republicans.

Ayotte’s approval/disapproval numbers have shifted by 15 points and, according to the new poll, her re-election chances in 2016 may be in jeopardy. In October, Ayotte, had a 48-35 approval rating. She has now tumbled underwater, with 46 percent disapproving and 44 percent approving, the Public Policy Polling survey found.

The PPP poll also found that half of Granite State voters say Ayotte’s gun vote makes them less likely to support her the next time around. Ayotte, who won election in 2010 by a 23-point margin, now risks enticing a challenge from popular Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan.

Ayotte’s numbers slipped by 13 points among independents and 21 points among moderates. Two-thirds of moderates said they are second-guessing the senator after the background checks vote on Capitol Hill.

 Across the state, newspapers have been filled with damning editorials and angry letters to the editor aimed at Ayotte, the former state attorney general. She was also hit by a stinging ad from Gabby Gifford’s gun control group.

A PPP poll released earlier this week showed that even in South Carolina, a deep Red State, Republican officials and candidates were out of step with voters on the background checks issue.

But it’s not just the GOP standardbearers who are hurting. In North Dakota, another rookie senator, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, is frantically defending her vote against the gun safety measure.

Heitkamp said that the calls her office received on Manchin-Toomey – obviously reflecting the intensity of the NRA’s efforts – were 7-1 in opposition to the bill. But a recent poll found that 94 percent of voters in North Dakota want to see the gun show loophole for background checks ended.

Meanwhile, Organizing For America, the political group that grew out of the 2012 Obama re-election campaign has announced that they plan to run ads targeting many of the senators – Republicans and Democrats -- who rejected the Manchin-Toomey amendment.

The Huffington Post made this observation:

“In years past, lawmakers worried that a vote for gun control would bring the anger of the National Rifle Association. In the new reality, votes against gun control also carry a political risk, as the Ayotte poll indicates.”