Saturday, October 25, 2008

Sam Rasoul deceives NRA voters with Waynesboro campaign sign!

This Sam Rasoul Campaign sign is located about 50 feet South of the intersection of Rosser Ave & Northgate in Waynesboro, VA. When my wife and I saw this sign, we at first thought we were seeing things or have lost our minds, so we turned around to get a better look and we found that we were not seeing things or gone crazy and this sign did in fact advertise the the Mr. Rasoul has an "A" rating from the NRA. This sign has a two yellow stickers in the upper right and left sides of the campaign sign that state NRA Grade A. The stickers say "NRA Grade A." I thought this was odd because I'm a life member of the NRA and only recall one candidate for the U.S. House 6th District of VA race getting an "A" rating from the NRA. For clarification the rating of "A" is defined by the NRA print publication and web site as: Solidly pro-gun candidate. An “A” incumbent who has supported NRA positions on key votes. May also describe a non-incumbent “A” candidate (one not represented with an *) who has previously held other office and cast consistent pro-gun votes, or an “A” candidate who hasn’t held office but has expressed strong support for NRA positions on Second Amendment issues. It should be noted that a “non-incumbent” candidate may have been awarded the “A” rating due solely to their responses on the NRA-PVF candidate survey. The one candidate that did recieve the "A" rating was incumbent Congressman Bob Goodlatte. I wanted to make sure that my memory was correct. I checked my copy of the November 08' American Rifleman magazine which contained the NRA candidate ratings for the 08' elections. My memory was correct and Congressman Goodlatte was the only candidate for this race with an "A" rating. I checked http://www.nrapvf.org/ to ensure that the print copy I received had the most up to date information. The site confirmed that Congressman Goodlatte was in fact the only candidate to have been given an "A" rating from the NRA for this race.

Lets address the rating that the Democrat challenger Mr. Sam Rasoul was given. Mr. Rasoul received the rating of "AQ" which is defined by the NRA's print publication and web site as: A pro-gun candidate whose rating is based solely on the candidate’s responses to the 2008 NRA-PVF Candidate Questionnaire and who does not have a voting record on Second Amendment issues. While the description for "AQ" is basically pro-gun it is not by any means an "A" rating and as a result is misleading and deceptive to voters who may who may make opinions based on a candidates rating from the NRA. The NRA's information clearly states that there is a way for a candidate who has not yet served in elected office to get an "A" rating, however Mr. Rasoul has not been "A” candidate who hasn’t held office but has expressed strong support for NRA positions on Second Amendment issues." Based on the rating of "AQ" that Mr. Rasoul did in fact receive, it can be assumed that he answered the questionnaire with pro-gun answers.

I checked Mr. Rasoul's website and was unable to locate a specific reference to the NRA rating. If this concerns you please contact the Rasoul for Congress campaign and ask them why a their sign in Waynesboro indicates an A rating from the NRA when in fact Mr. Rasouls rating is "AQ" which means something else entirely.
Mr. Rasoul, I have no reason to believe your responses in the NRA Candidate Questionaire were anything buy honest. Mr. Rasoul, you know that the NRA didn't give you an "A" rating, myself and the thousands of other Valley voters (many NRA members) knonw you didn't get an "A" rating so why would you advertise anything else?
Mr. Rasoul, be honest with voters and don't claim an endorsement that you don't in fact have.

Never allow a deceptive or questionable campaign to go unchallenged.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the same sign with the NRA grade add-on is present at the intersection of Greenville Ave and Richmond RD(besides Wright's Diary-Rite) in Staunton.

Anonymous said...

Pretty sad when you have to blatantly lie to the voters.