I was in Florida over the weekend campaigning for Obama. I'm impressed with the way the Obama campaign will not cede any vote to McCain. This is the first time any Democratic presidential campaign has so aggressively fought for gun owners. I think it's working - and it's throwing the GOP-controlled NRA for a loop.

I like this headline from the Daytona Beach News-Journal: "Obama, McCain lining up gun groups"

Obama is actually lining up gun voters, which is most important. Wherever I go, I'm finding gun owners are open to Obama. This year, we're not being duped by the NRA's aggressively pro-GOP spin. That loyalty to the Republicans hasn't gotten gun owners much. Our environment is in danger and the economy in crisis. The NRA's leaders don't look beyond their own narrow self-interests.

I'm also very glad to see more Democratic leaders speaking out on this issue. Last week, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland delivered the message in Southern Ohio:

"There is probably no governor, I would say, in the United States of America, who has a stronger, better record in the support of the Second Amendment than does Governor Ted Strickland and I'm proud of that," Strickland told a rally in Chillicothe as he warmed up the crowd ahead of a speech by Obama.

Strickland, whose battleground state is a focus of intensive campaigning by Obama and Republican John McCain, said he spoke directly to Obama about the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment.

"If you are a sportsman, if you are a gun owner, if you are someone that honors and respects the Second Amendment, you have nothing to fear from Barack Obama," the Democratic governor said at a rally in the rural southern part of his state.

Governor Strickland is absolutely right. We're making progress -- Democrats are talking to gun owners and gun owners are listening.  I've been campaigning for Obama myself in Southern Ohio so I know Strickland's words carry weight with gun owners.  When these gun owners understand their guns are safe, they are willing to hear what Obama has to say about the economy.

It's also good to see the NRA's leadership being called out on their hypocrisy. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times used the NRA's own words to undermine the case the group is trying to make for McCain:

The NRA on Thursday officially endorsed John McCain, though that was merely a formality given that it had already spent $2.3 million on attack ads targeting Obama. This puts the organization in the odd position of throwing its considerable political clout behind a Republican candidate whom its official journal once called "one of the premier flag carriers for enemies of the 2nd Amendment," and against a Democrat who never tires of telling voters that he believes in the right to bear arms. So what gives? Apparently, the NRA thinks that McCain's past legislative sins against gun ownership are forgivable, while Obama's are not.

The gun lobby was furious seven years ago when the McCain-Feingold bill threatened to limit the ability of advocacy groups like the NRA to sponsor political ads; McCain also prominently backed a bill that would have required dealers at gun shows to run background checks on buyers, a smart strategy for keeping guns out of the hands of criminals that horrifies the NRA. McCain's choice of lifetime NRA member Sarah Palin as vice president, on the other hand, seems to have erased any doubts about his loyalty to the Colt-hugging crew.

There was never any doubt that the NRA would endorse their one-time enemy, John McCain. The current leaders of the NRA put their own partisan politics first. This year, however, the NRA isn't the only game in town. Gun owners are hearing from both sides. And, this year, that is making a major difference. Along those lines, I'll be back on the campaign trail this week heading to Minnesota and Michigan.