Gun Pulled After Colo. Palin Rally

Obama's anti-gun stance and fears of economic chaos fuel record gun sales

(NEWSER) - Fears of an anti-gun presidency and the threat of civil unrest in a worsening economic climate are fueling record sales of firearms and ammunition, the Washington Post reports. Sales have been climbing since 2006 and this year have shot past the average annual 5% increase to reach 10%, as gun advocates predict that some weapons may become illegal or heavily taxed under either presidential candidate. More»

Campaign aims to do the opposite of McCain

(NEWSER) - Team Romney’s rule of thumb: Do the opposite of everything John McCain did in 2008, or so reports Politico in a look at the campaign's strategy. The approach applies broadly, say advisers—focus hugely on the economy, fully engage in fundraising, integrate early with the Republican National Committee—but comes most into play in the search for a VP. The campaign doesn’t want to end up with its own version of Sarah Palin, so it is going to great lengths to avoid anyone who could be seen as unprepared. The goal, according to one official: Go with an "incredibly boring white guy." More»

Former McCain strategist calls 'Game Change' 'very accurate'

(NEWSER) - Steve Schmidt, the former John McCain campaign strategist portrayed by Woody Harrelson in HBO's Game Change, pulled no punches when describing his reaction to the book on MSNBC this morning. "I think it was very accurate. For all of us in the campaign, it really rang true. It gave you a little bit of PTSD at times," he said, before going on to add that Sarah Palin was "not prepared" to potentially assume the presidency when the campaign chose her as the VP candidate, and that the very "notion of Sarah Palin being president of the United States is something that frightens me, frankly." More»

'I'm not going to watch it,' says Arizona senator

(NEWSER) - Maybe John McCain also wanted Brad Pitt to play him , but he's certainly no fan of Game Change, deriding the movie based on his 2008 presidential campaign to Fox News Sunday as "based on a book that's completely biased and with unattributed quotes. I'm not going to watch it." Politico notes that a main beef appears to be his potty-mouthed portrayal, by actor Ed Harris: "I don’t use coarse language very often. I have a larger vocabulary than that," he says. More»

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."