Days after the initial shock of the Orlando nightclub attack, Georgia’s three Senate candidates offered policy prescriptions that reveal their overall philosophy – and triggered political debate.
Incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson vowed to oppose violent religious fanatics. Libertarian Allen Buckley called for restrictions on gun buying.
And Democrat Jim Barksdale blamed “the narrative of violence and hate.”
The death of 49 patrons at a gay club by an apparently self-radicalized adherent of the Islamic State, or ISIS, spawned responses from politicians because voters are looking for ways to prevent future violence in what seems to be an increasingly common occurrence. The absence of a consensus around a certain solution creates the vacuum for politics to enter.
Isakson’s statement from his Senate office began with an expression of sympathy for the victims’ loved ones and support for volunteers who offered assistance. But he concluded with his own vow of action.
“I, for one, am going to roll up my sleeves and work to see to it that wherever radical Islamic terrorism is, I want to root it out, and I want to destroy it. We will not accept or tolerate what happened yesterday,” he said. “We must redouble our effort to follow it wherever it leads us and to wipe it out and eradicate it. As one senator, I will promise to do that.”
Contrast that with Buckley’s focus on gun-owner rights. He advocates the repeal of the Brady bill that requires a waiting period and background checks, providing greater freedom to law-abiding citizens. But in what is perhaps a departure from libertarian orthodoxy, he proposes changing the Second Amendment “to prohibit access to guns to the mentally ill, institutionalized persons, illegal immigrants, people under investigation for terrorism and persons convicted of a felony involving deadly force.”
He would also require business owners to post notice if guns are banned on the premises.
Barksdale, the political newcomer of the trio, answered a question about gun violence at a Hall County Democratic Party meeting by saying he supports the Second Amendment as a safeguard against tyranny. He also supports background checks to keep guns from the mentally unstable and no guns on campus, what he says are common sense.
Hate, though, is an aspect of the debate he said he wants to shed more light on.
“America is captive to a narrative of violence and hate, and that is part of what we need to be working on, and I would like to elevate the conversation,” he said.
He went on to condemn what he called a circle of violence, quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s description of hate as the nuclear bomb in our heart.
“We are the ones that are in the wrong,” Barksdale later said. “We need to step back from the violence.”
The Georgia Republican Party, whose tracker apparently recorded the candidate, issued a statement attacking Barksdale for society instead of the gunman.
“The innocent men and women killed on Sunday morning did not deserve to be murdered by a radical, heartless terrorist,” said Republican spokesman Ryan Mahoney. “They were not held ‘captive’ by violence or hate. They were not ‘in the wrong.’”
Mahoney only made available scratch audio of the tracker’s recording. It is unlikely to be good enough quality for attack ads, but don’t be surprised if the statement isn’t mentioned again.
And the issue is likely to be debated all fall because, as Buckley said, perfection is illusive.
“While not a perfect solution like many areas of life, I don’t think there is a perfect solution to these matters. I believe my approach is better than what we are now doing,” he said.
