Inevitably much of today's political news is centered around guns and the Virginia Tech tragedy. The Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey Birnbaum report that reluctant Democratic leaders in Congress are now being forced to deal with an issue that "divides their party and holds considerable political peril: gun control." Democrats on both sides of the issue are skeptical the VT shootings will change anything, much like the Columbine shootings 8 years failed to get major gun-control laws passed. Elsewhere, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is cautioning against a "rush to judgment" for stricter gun control.
Much of that hesitancy lies in the fact that the National Rifle Association has money, motivated supporters and allies in Congress, reports The Politico's Jeanne Cummings. In the House there are "24 pro-gun freshmen: 11 Democrats and 13 Republicans. In the Senate, four pro-gun freshmen took seats: three Democrats and one Republican." Between 1997 and 2006, the NRA spent "nearly $16 million on outside lobbying shops that worked alongside its five full-time lobbyists" and since 1990 it has given $16 million in campaign contributions, 83 percent of them to Republicans. Moreover, the NRA has a large presence among organized labor and 95 percent of the NRA's 3.8 million members vote.
Back in campaign finance news, The Hill's Kevin Bogardus reports that Mitt Romney's estimated personal wealth of more than $500 million cannot be challenged by the "Millionaires' Amendment" included in McCain-Feingold because it is only applicable to Congressional races -- giving him an edge over Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani who do not have as much personal wealth.
McCain and Giuliani are making their presence felt in South Carolina. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza reports that McCain's campaign confirmed the authenticity of a flyer contrasting McCain's positions on abortion and judges with those of Romney and Giuliani, making the two out to be more liberal on the issues. Meanwhile, The State's Aaron Gould Sheinin reports that McCain has paid more than $30,000 to a state senator and the sons of two other prominent elected officials, all of whom endorsed McCain. His campaign said the endorsements came "prior to the financial arrangements" and that the endorsements and campaign jobs were unrelated.
Meanwhile, Giuliani raised more money from Spartanburg County, SC -- the beating heart of the state's GOP -- than all other Republican candidates combined, reports the Spartanburg Herald-Tribune's Jason Spencer. Up on Capitol Hill today, Fred Thompson will meet with about 50 House Republicans as he continues to eye the White House.
On the Democratic side, Al Sharpton has attracted Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as John Edwards, DNC chair Howard Dean and others to his National Action Network convention that begins today.
Clinton made a speech to leaders of the Jewish Reform movement in Washington, D.C., yesterday that "combined themes of her White House bid with a solemn acknowledgment" of the VT shootings, reports the New York Sun's Russell Berman. The Politico's Ben Smith has posted audio and selected quotes from Obama's Wisconsin appearance last night, where Obama talked about the shootings and had a broad mediation on American society and other forms of "violence."
Get these and today's other elections stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.