BOSTON (AP) – A day after Republican Mitt Romney revealed he had hunted only twice despite saying he was a lifelong hunter, one of his presidential rivals, Sen. John McCain, announced the members of his “sportsmen coalition” in early voting New Hampshire.
Among those supporting the Arizona senator is Steve Hodges, a former New Hampshire Fish and Game commissioner.
“John McCain has consistently worked to secure the rights of gun owners and strengthen law enforcement,” Hodges said in a statement released by McCain’s campaign. “I am honored to help build his effort in New Hampshire.” Another supporter, former state police trooper and Hillsborough County sheriff Walter Morse, said in the statement: “As an avid hunter and former sheriff, I look for the candidate that understands the idea that with great freedoms come great responsibilities, which is why I am supporting Senator John McCain.”
The announcement came at the end of a week in which Romney said at a campaign appearance in Keene, N.H., “I’ve been a hunter pretty much all my life.”
A day later, his staffed confirmed he had been on only two hunting trips at opposite ends of his life: once, when he visited his cousins’ ranch in Idaho as a 15-year-old, and once last year.
When as a 58-year-old he hunted quail on a fenced game preserve in Georgia with supporters of the Republican Governors Association.
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