NRA Bloomberg Attack Ads?

September 17, 2015 1:38 PM

So - I've seen some anti-Bloomberg attack ads by the NRA on Youtube. I don't quite understand that the hell is going on? The Googles reveals that these ads are running during the Republican debates, apparently?

All I can think of is the Mr Show sketch of McHutchence vs Greeley vs Rev Anders...

Is Bloomberg running for some sort of office? Is he trying to pull strings in the Republican party? Is he spending money on anti-gun efforts as a civil activism measure I'm not aware of?

posted by symbioid to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

Best answer: Bloomberg is a very, very well known for his gun safety/restriction positions, and personally helps fund Everytown.

I would assume any advertisements against him are to warn off candidates from getting endorsements from him/inoculate republicans to immediately turn against anyone he endorses.
posted by larthegreat at 1:41 PM on September 17, 2015 [3 favorites]

Yes, Bloomberg is spending a lot of money on anti-gun efforts. Primarily under the auspices of Everytown for Gun Safety (wikipedia).
posted by cushie at 1:42 PM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OK, I see. It just seemed so left field. This makes a lot more sense, especially as a "warning" against any who may dare to question the mighty NRA.
posted by symbioid at 1:45 PM on September 17, 2015

Also: "Wednesday’s ad was part of the NRA’s million-dollar campaign to paint Bloomberg as a nanny-state liberal, plotting to use his billions to take away Americans' guns and influence the presidency."
posted by cushie at 1:49 PM on September 17, 2015

Bloomberg has been used as this bogeyman before—the ultimate symbol (to certain people) of a wealthy liberal east coast elitist (from New York City, no less!) trying to grab guns from decent, honest, law-abiding folks. Here's an example of one such ad, which was run in Colorado in 2013 by people who successfully recalled two Democratic state senators over their support for gun safety legislation.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:22 PM on September 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would guess that the reason the NRA is advertising during the debate is to rev up their base and get people to join/renew. It's not going to affect Bloomberg or anyone who agrees with him.
posted by SemiSalt at 2:17 PM on September 18, 2015

Response by poster: Well - I just saw that Trump announced his gun policy, so, perhaps that's part of the intended effect. Hey Billionaire, you want our support, you gotta go gun(g) ho! And lo, did Trump announce a policy.
posted by symbioid at 9:03 AM on September 20, 2015