Will Heller Hurt Obama?

Despite the Obama campaign insisting that the Nov., 2007 Chicago Tribune article was "inartful" description of Obama's position, Obama has a nice long history of supporting the D.C. gun ban, including this video from February, 2008 on ABC 7 in the Washington area:

So, will Heller hurt Obama? Certainly, support for gun control isn't against party platform for him, but after all it's been argued here that drilling is the next gun control -- an issue that tilts largely toward the GOP stance, which Dems would be wise to lay off. Under Obama's banner of progressivism, though, he seems trapped in the 1970s and would be unlikely to move right on gun control, particularly if he's catering to an urban vote.

More importantly, however, the Heller waffling introduces yet another instance of Obama taking a key issue and attempting to change positions dramatically by means of vagueness. Look at the video, Obama tries to overcome a prior gaffe by giving a run at having it both ways and ultimately failing. It's rather difficult to "respect the second amendment and people's traditions" while taking away the guns. Can this be exploited as another instance of his dramatically changing stances, or at the very least, attempting to equivocate on something? In some ways, the "present" votes have not played enough of a role in the narrative yet; on the other hand, the right to bear arms could be the issue that helps mobilize veterans for McCain, if it's played well.

Katherine Miller blogs at Right-Wing Vitriol, the blog of the Vanderbilt Torch.