CHICAGO
(AP) — Dana Loesch is the new public face of the National Rifle
Association, an organization long associated with older white men.
At
39, she's poised, photogenic and a skilled public speaker, yet she's
not softening the message of the NRA as it becomes an increasingly
active voice in the nation's culture wars, with positions on everything
from immigration to the media.
In
the aftermath of the shooting deaths of 17 people, mostly students, at a
Florida high school, it's Loesch who has been the NRA's main messenger.
The
NRA dispatched Loesch last week to a CNN town hall, where she was
questioned by students and parents from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School, the site of the Valentine's Day shooting. Often brash and
combative, Loesch was measured and even-tempered, though she was booed
when she left the stage.
Charlie
Sykes, a longtime conservative radio host who has been critical of the
NRA, said Loesch's skill is communicating with a broad range of
Americans while retaining the ultra-conservative base built by Wayne
LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president and CEO since 1991.
