donald trump, who has seen the republican establishment<u+2019>s support for his presidential candidacy deteriorate in recent weeks, has found a stalwart in one conservative institution: the national rifle association. the group has spent more than $26.8 million on ads promoting mr. trump and attacking democratic rival hillary clinton. that<u+2019>s more than twice what it spent at this point in the 2012 election and more than any other outside group backing the gop ticket in 2016, according to federal election commission records. the next biggest spending pro-trump group, rebuilding america now, has spent less than $17 million on advertising. <u+201c>no other outside group committed the necessary resources to defeat hillary clinton so the nra had to fill the holes,<u+201d> said jennifer baker, spokeswoman for the nra-institute for legislative action. the pro-gun-rights group endorsed mr. trump earlier than it had with any other presidential candidate<u+2014>a fact he mentions frequently on the campaign trail. and the gop convention speech by chris cox, executive director of the nra<u+2019>s political and lobbying arm, was the group<u+2019>s first appearance at a national party convention. erica soto lamb, a spokeswoman for the gun-control group everytown for gun safety, said the nra is misleading voters by suggesting that the right to bear arms is under siege. <u+201c>they<u+2019>re using the same fearmongering arguments they used against president obama to rally their base,<u+201d> said ms. lamb, whose group endorsed mrs. clinton. the nra<u+2019>s unprecedented investment in the presidential race illustrates the high stakes surrounding a supreme court evenly divided along ideological lines since the death of justice antonin scalia, who was appointed to the court in 1986 by president ronald reagan. a priority for the next president will be nominating a replacement for mr. scalia, if the senate fails to approve president barack obama<u+2019>s pick, judge merrick garland. mr. scalia wrote for the majority in a landmark, 5-4 decision that asserted an individual right to bear arms for self-defense. mr. trump praised that <u+201c>well-crafted decision<u+201d> in the last debate and promised to appoint justices <u+201c>that will feel very strongly about the second amendment, that will not do damage to the second amendment.<u+201d> a new nra digital and television ad highlights mrs. clinton<u+2019>s opposition to that decision. <u+201c>hillary<u+2019>s made her choice,<u+201d> says the ad. <u+201c>now you get to make yours. defend freedom. defeat hillary.<u+201d> the nra<u+2019>s substantial investment in the 2016 election also highlights the stark contrast between mr. trump, who supported an assault weapons ban years ago but now opposes it, and mrs. clinton, who shifted left on gun issues during a primary campaign against a more liberal challenger. mrs. clinton has campaigned several times with <u+201c>mothers of the movement<u+201d> who have lost children to gun violence, most recently on sunday in north carolina. mr. trump has made accusing mrs. clinton of wanting to <u+201c>abolish the second amendment<u+201d> a standard part of his stump speech despite her repeated rebuttals. <u+201c>there is no doubt that i respect the second amendment. that i also believe there is an individual right to bear arms,<u+201d> she said in the third and final presidential debate one week ago. <u+201c>that is not in conflict with sensible, common sense regulation.<u+201d> the clinton campaign and liberal groups have widely outgunned the trump team and its allies on television, leaving a void on the right that the nra has stepped in to fill. in september alone, mrs. clinton spent $65 million on advertising, to mr. trump<u+2019>s $23 million. for the first time, the nra<u+2019>s ads in the presidential race are raising issues beyond gun rights in an effort to mobilize conservatives of all stripes. one spot assailed mrs. clinton for her leadership as secretary of state during the terrorist attack on the u.s. embassy in benghazi. another set of ads cast her as a jet-setting elitist and blasted her use of a private email server when she was in public office. <u+201c>we expanded our advertising reach beyond typical second amendment voters,<u+201d> ms. baker said. another distinction of the nra advertising this year is the focus on women in a campaign opposing the first female nominee for either major party.<u+00a0>a mid-october wall street journal/nbc news poll showed mr. trump lagging behind mrs. clinton by 19 percentage points among female voters. he is leading among men by just two points. mr. trump<u+2019>s decline has largely come after the release of a 2005 videotape in which he brags that his celebrity allows him to grope women and three uneven debate performances. ms. lamb called the female-focused ads <u+201c>another ploy by the gun manufacturer<u+2019>s lobby to sell more guns to women.<u+201d> in one spot, a young woman says she bought a gun after she was raped by man who broke into her home. <u+201c>my fear of firearms disappeared when i got my second chance at life,<u+201d> she says. in another ad, a woman is sleeping when she hears an intruder breaking in. she goes to grab her gun from a locked safe but it is empty<u+2014>because, the narrator says, mrs. clinton <u+201c>could take away her right to self-defense.<u+201d> another young female star of an nra ad says she was attacked by a knife-wielding man in a parking garage <u+201c>but i carry a pistol. i fight back.<u+201d> corrections & amplifications: everytown for gun safety is a gun-control group. an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated it was a gun-rights group. (oct. 25, 2016)
nra shows its support for donald trump with big ad spending - wsj
beth reinhard rebecca ballhaus