the american public and then making sure that we take that message to congress that we re holding them accountable. that s why we re doing things like flooding congress with calls from the american public. we have this program where you can text my voice to 877877 to make your voice heard, and to be connected with your congress person. when did that start? did that start prior to the voting itself? did that start prior to manchin and toomey getting together? or after the defeat? it started prior and it was a big part of the reason why there was such unprecedented support in recent years for this legislation. you know, why six a-rated nra senators actually listened to their constituents. but it s definitely been amped up since the vote, and you know, it shows what a watershed moment i was actually in the chambers with sarah brady, who, you know, was there the first time around for the passage of the brady bill, that the president was talking about. you know, she turned to me immed
to be making the case that this failure has been all about a lack of understanding. so is that the case or is this more a lack of cohesive unified approach? there has been tremendous cohesion in terms of the goal. i just want to kind of reframe what you just said a little bit. i mean, you know, progress has been made. this hasn t been an outright failure. the fact that there was a bipartisan agreement, the fact that six a-rated nra senators actually voted in favor of it, voted with their constituents and in favor of the safety of the american public. so you know, the winds have begun to shift. you also can see the polling results that have come out since the vote was taken, where senators ayotte and flake have gone down dramatically in their approval ratings and senator toomey has gone up dramatically for sponsoring the legislation. so it s really just a question of, you know, even more engaging
wants. there are things to take heart in and inspiration from. several months ago, there would have been a filibuster on this. but these guys knew when the newtown families visited, when americans started calling their congress people, they knew that they were being watched and they knew they at least had to have the conversation. there was a bipartisan agreement with two a-rated nra senators. six voted in favor of this. the original brady bill pertaining to 60% of gun sales, it took five or six times, five or six efforts to get that through the legislature. let s not it quell our outrage. i want to echo one thing. there is progress here. because we didn t get over the line. it doesn t feel like progress, people are upset that we have had this murder of children and a common sense basic widely supported program is not being implemented. the most basic thing you could do to literally prevent the next shooting of innocents of children. larry summers said the thing
around any one tragedy is going to change this issue. what s going to change the issue is when the voice of the overwhelming majority of americans whose safety hangs in the balance, who support these measures makes its voice heard. senator manchin, gosh, he deserves a ton of credit. you know, let s remember, i mean, he was an a-rated nra senator, so was senator toomey and senator landrieu, six a-rated senators came forward to support this legislation. you know, we need to demonstrate to them that it was not a courageous thing to do, that it was the right thing to do and that the american public will have their back. actually demonstrate that it s an overly courageous thing for senators who don t support these measures to work against the interest of the american peep. we need to start holding these folks accountable, make them, you know i m a victim of gun violence. my brother was shot. the newtown family, the aurora family, the people who suffer from gun violence every day, we
room on the right for wiggle room. to begin to move in the direction that pat toomey is leading them. and i think you hit it right on the head. he s gone outside of the standard norm that would be expected of a conservative on something like this. an a-rated nra senator. an nra member. i think that that is a again, you re beginning to see the kind of shifts, and it goes back to something i said on your show a few weeks ago. i love it when you quote yourself. i don t get to do it too often. but, no, we were going back and forth. and i said you know, let s let this thing unfold because there are going to be a lot of twists and turns, whether you re talking about immigration, you re talking about guns. and even on gay marriage. within the gop, you re going to see an evolution begin to accelerate. not at a rapid speed. and i think this is one of those issues where you take the statements of someone like a paul ryan, and the leadership of a pat tomorrowy, itomey, it s m