guns without butter

Returning from an evening walk, I found a large-size postcard in my mailbox with photographs on it of some guy with a gun.  I was like -- "Aauugh!"
WHAT in the heck....?
Briefly considered not bringing the postcard indoors -- (Thought, can I, maybe, "throw it back" like in Fishing...?)

Flipping the card over and reading the back, it said -- "I promised to run no negative political ads and I have kept that promise!"
And I thought, Well that part's good.
But what's with the gun?...Back to the front-side, the lettering assures the recipient that the candidate for State Senate "supports gun owners.  Always has... always will!"

OK -- am catching on, now.  Down at the bottom:  "Check my record.  Don't believe the gross mischaracterizations of the negative ads.  I am a life-long hunter and gun owner and that's not going to change.  COUNT ON IT!

I -- I think I get it now....

I'm not exactly the specific type of voter that's aimed at, but -- could see what he was doing and why.  He had promised to not use negative advertising (Yay!) and then apparently some opposition force must have dumped hot-button ads onto the voters, telling us this guy might be "anti-gun."  (Blessedly, I missed that.)

(The funny thing is, there are districts where, if you ran a bunch of ads saying your opponent was anti-gun, that would increase his support - !  Suburbs in Connecticut, and around Boston -- places like that....But in this area, the intention
of ads saying a candidate is "anti-gun"
is certainly to turn public sentiment (and votes)
against that candidate.

So -- it appears he made the commitment to run a positive campaign (commendable), but then felt compelled to defend himself when negative ads were run against him (understandable).

I don't know why I was intimidated when I first took out the postcard and was greeted by people wearing hunting clothes and the candidate carrying a gun.  I guess I just wasn't expecting it.  I see photographs of people in their hunting gear, with guns and ducks and things, on people's walls and on their desks, and that doesn't scare me or -- startle me.  But these folks don't have a photo taken of themselves holding their gun and then -- send it to me in the mail!

Standing on my porch in the dark, with my heart rate in the exercise zone and my comfortable sneakers and jacket and stocking-hat which says, "Don't approach me or run over me, I'm busy" and looking at the "Thanks for your support!" postcard, upon realizing it was a political candidate, thought momentarily, "is he coming after me with the gun, to make me vote for him??"...  (Smith & Wesson, The great equalizer.  The great convincer.)...

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