The election news this year is looking grimmer for the Republicans every day.  McCain is described in headlines as "on the ropes" (Arizona Republic), his campaign riven by internal conflict, and now, he gets an endorsement from a web site associated with Al Qaeda.  Conventianal wisdom holds that Obama is on his way to a landslide.  As I've said in this space previously, I am not excited at the prospect of a McCain presidency.  On gun rights he's slightly better than Obama despite his NRA endorsement. 

I'm not calling the election for Obama, but if the growing clamor of conventional wisdom is correct and Obama does win an electoral landslide he will have a friendly Congress and he will claim a mandate. Trouble is, he will have no mandate.  Rejection of the Republican Party, and even defections of prominent members, does not equate to an embrace of the Democrats.  

But that doesn't mean tht the Democrats won't claim a mandate.

So, will the Democrats have enough confidence in their coming "mandate" to really test it?  The test will be what is now known as H.R. 1022: Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007.  If the so-called "assault weapons" ban is re-introduced and if it has legs, it means that the Democrats are confident in their "mandate."  Here's hoping that they have not forgotten the lesson of 1994 when Bill Clinton himself credited the Democrats' historic loss of the House to the Gun Lobby.  If they press forward with the bill, we need to be alert for an NRA that is willing to make a deal accept bad in order to avoid worse.