In The U.S. Election Race Obama and Romney Seek Sportsman’s Vote

© By Othmar Vohringer

The contenders in the American presidential election have discovered the potential of the outdoor sportsman vote. Both contenders for the Whitehouse are seeking the vote of the American hunters, yet neither President Barack Obama nor Gov. Mitt Romney fully comprehends the true nature of hunters. In fact neither of them is a hunter. But they do understand the importance American sportsmen carry as a voting bloc.

And that’s the reason why each campaign reaches out to sportsmen to some degree, as can be seen by the lobby websites Sportsmen for Obama and Sportsmen for Romney.

The Sportsmen for Obama Website states:

“Under the President’s leadership, conservation programs are protecting the nation’s natural resources, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities and building valuable habitat for wildlife,” states the information contained on the Sportsmen for Obama website. “The Obama administration is working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices on nearly 30 million acres of land. The President is also investing in projects in all 50 states to conserve wildlife and habitat and to create outdoor recreation jobs.”

On the Sportsmen for Romney Website the candidate had this to say:

“We are blessed with great natural beauty as well. It is the sportsmen and women of America who keep safe that natural wealth for this generation and many more to come. Hunters, fishermen, sports-shooters, and outdoors enthusiasts not only create millions of jobs and pump billions of dollars into our economy, they stand on the forefront of defending our Second Amendment rights and protecting the natural wonder of our nation. If I am fortunate enough to become president, they will have a friend in the White House.”

Here at Othmar Vohringer Outdoors Blog, we’re not suggesting to vote for a particular candidate. All I suggest is that, like in any working democracy, people should make use of their right to elect their representatives and go the polls on November 6. I also would encourage you all to look carefully what each candidate has to offer in the overall package and not just vote based of how the individual candidate thinks about hunters and hunting. While hunting may is of vital importance to us outdoor sports people it is of very little importance in the overall scheme of this, such as the economy, employment, education, healthcare and above all peace.