John McCain, speaking to the National Rifle Association today:
After Senator Obama made his unfortunate comment that Pennsylvanians "cling to guns and religion" out of bitterness, Senator Clinton quickly affirmed her support for the Second Amendment. That drew Senator Obama's derision. "She's running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment," he said. "Like she's on the duck blind every Sunday, packin' a six shooter!" Someone should tell Senator Obama that ducks are usually hunted with shotguns.
In fact, McCain altered Obama's quote in a crucial way. What Obama actually said was:
She's talking like she's Annie Oakley. Hillary Clinton's out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She's packing a six-shooter. C'mon, she knows better.
Obama was saying that Clinton is pretending to be a gun aficionado, someone who hunts every week and packs a six-shooter. He wasn't saying that Clinton hunts with a six-shooter. McCain is just making that part up.
Now, the whole controversy is monumentally stupid. But the McCain campaign has been repeating this false account, and it's one of those empty lifestyle moments that get endlessly repeated and spun into GOP electoral gold.
--Jonathan Chait