John Kerry did a little image repair yesterday, using Ohio geese as sacrificial lambs in order to create an image of a robust outdoorsman and hunter that conflicts with his 20-year Senate record of supporting gun control. Unfortunately for Kerry, the pool reporters for his overt show of testosterone were not allowed to watch him actually pull the trigger:

John F. Kerry brought his campaign to a duck blind in far eastern Ohio on Thursday morning, and while he managed to clip one unfortunate goose, he was really aiming for undecided voters in this battleground state. ...

Clearly concerned about his low rating from the National Rifle Association -- he got an F on the NRA's last report card, and it is running ads in key states against him -- Kerry often makes a point during his stump speech of announcing that he owns guns.

Thursday morning, he happily emerged from the duck blind toting a Mossberg 835 Ulti Mag-pump action 12-gauge shotgun, but someone else was carrying his dead prey. "I'm too lazy," Kerry joked, adding that he was still "giddy" over the pennant victory Wednesday night of his beloved Boston Red Sox, catapulting the team into the World Series.

Let's forget for a moment that his record shows that Kerry would attempt to roll back gun-ownership rights, and that his base are the same people who would take them away altogether. There's something terribly hypocritical about toting a gun out for a campaign event and killing an animal that you have no interest in eating. In fact, it confirms the worst impulses often assigned to hunters -- that their guns are an extension of their genitalia and the hunt's only significance is to affirm one's masculinity. Most hunters I know don't fall into that category; they hunt for the food and for the camaraderie, the tradition.

Kerry sold that out yesterday just to prove his manliness. If his base can't admit to the irony in that, then they've bought into the hypocrisy.

And even worse, Kerry couldn't be bothered to handle his own kill, as the Washington Post points out:

Thursday morning, he happily emerged from the duck blind toting a Mossberg 835 Ulti Mag-pump action 12-gauge shotgun, but someone else was carrying his dead prey. "I'm too lazy," Kerry joked, adding that he was still "giddy" over the pennant victory Wednesday night of his beloved Boston Red Sox, catapulting the team into the World Series.

Twenty-five reporters and cameramen were taken on the carefully staged event, but none saw Kerry shoot anything. They were kept quite a distance away.

What they did see, however, was a glorious photo opportunity: Kerry emerging from the blind, victorious with the other men, perfectly outfitted in hunting gear. ... Kerry was joined by Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), Bob Bellino of the local Ducks Unlimited chapter and Neal Brady, assistant manager of Indian Lake State Park.

The hunting party bagged four geese. The other three men carried their own dead birds.

I wonder if someone else shot it for him as well. At the very least, the notion that a hunter can't carry out his own kill from the woods underscores the dissonance between the image Kerry intended to create and the impression he made on the reporters. Instead of looking like a man of the people, a man's man, he wound up appearing like an upper-class twit whose servants traipse behind him to keep the icky blood off of his hands. That may have been the most honest moment about the entire contrived event.

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» Details on Kerry's Goose Hunt from Airborne Combat Engineer
0245Z FRI 22OCT04. Drudge. Drudge has a play-by-play of the photo-op goose hunt, including the staged walk-out. Six guys went in, 28 shots were fired, and 4 geese were reported killed (although only 2 were seen carried out). Hell of [Read More]

Tracked on October 22, 2004 6:52 AM

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Tracked on October 22, 2004 9:00 AM

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Tracked on October 22, 2004 9:23 AM

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