Bedard: Sarah Palin Aiming for NRA Convention

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Paul Bedard, who blogs at Washington Whispers for U.S. News & World Report, says that despite the liberal hysteria over Sarah Palin's "Don't Retreat, Reload" remarks, the former governor "is not about to holster her rhetorical sidearm":

What's more, she's leading a posse of Second Amendment-supporting Republicans to the annual National Rifle Association convention later this month in Charlotte, N.C. Take a gander at who's on the docket, which looks like the conservative roundup for the 2012 GOP primaries: Palin, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence.

"It's a big deal," says the NRA's top lobbyist and convention organizer Chris Cox. "It's a beauty contest of those who support the Second Amendment," he says, adding that the speakers will also include media and Hollywood elite, and even some Blue Dog Democrats like Tennessee Rep. John Tanner and North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler.

With expectations of a record-setting crowd of 80,000, Cox says gun owners are fired up more than ever over concerns about liberal politicians banning guns and Washington's spending. "It's an indication of where the American people are on the Second Amendment," he says. Critics, he adds, "try to paint us as an extreme, but we are the deepest part of the river; we are the strongest part of the river," says Cox.

Cox says the massive number of Second Amendment supporters anticipated to attend the NRA convention should send a message as the midterm elections draw near that "NRA members and gun owners are a very important voting bloc," says Cox. And they are concerned about Speaker Pelosi and President Obama, he adds.

Dubbed a "Celebration of American Values," the NRA Leadership Forum will be Friday, May 14, at the Charlotte Convention Center.

- JP