The NRA had already decided early on that beating Gore was their main objective that year as a means of teaching Democrats a lesson for post-Columbine gun control proposals. That was going to cost him those states no matter who the GOP ran.
Clinton had already passed the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994 before winning all these states and then some in 1996, but OK, keep telling yourself that the NRA was at fault for what happened in the election rather than Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Whatever helps you sleep at night, and keep those 100,000 dead Iraqis from haunting your dreams because you wanted to stick it to those smug New Democrats and make a "statement" of some kind. Well, you certainly made a "statement." It was heard loud and clear, and has unleashed the forces of hell onto the world. I hope you're satisfied.
Yeah, Bill Clinton had a talent for evading consequences and having other Democrats take his hits for him - 1994 congressional Democrats, his VP, even his wife eventually. The gun issue died down after 1994 but was resurged by Columbine as pretty much everybody knows.
Oh, and how did Nader cause Bush to exceed 50 percent in the four states mentioned in this thread? Solar winds?
