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“I never thought I’d sit here and say the NRA is accused of going soft, but in fact a number of conservatives are saying the NRA is looking out for the National Rifle Association as an organization, not for the conservative movement.” (MSNBC)

Amidst rumors the NRA — once considered a conservative stronghold — is considering endorsing Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, the media smells controversy. This as many prominent conservatives are urging followers to pull their support of the powerful lobby in favor of what they call the more consistently-conservative lobby, Gun Owners of America.

We’re analyzing coverage from MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, RedState and Politico.

A Wall Street Journal host focuses on a special exemption the NRA got from House Democrats on the DISCLOSE Act, a campaign finance proposal passed after the NRA withdrew its opposition to the bill.

GUEST: “Democrats are very good at twisting arms, so in the end it said better to cut a deal than to end up under these restrictions with nothing at all.”

HOST: “So they were willing to sell out on the First Amendment to protect themselves in their main job, which is to protect the Second Amendment and not have to disclose their donors...”

Conservative blog RedState’s Erick Erickson points to the lobby’s alleged failure to come out strongly and swiftly enough against anti-gun rights Attorney General Eric Holder or Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Erickson calls the lobby a “weak little girl of an organization.”

“There are few organizations purportedly on the side of freedom that aggravate me more than the National Rifle Association. ... The NRA legislative strategy in the past few years has been... more interested in maintaining the veneer of bipartisanship than actually standing up for the second amendment.”

But Politico reports the $300 million organization says it has good reasons to negotiate with Democrats.

“The NRA’s defenders say the powerful 138-year-old gun-rights group is simply doing what’s necessary to maintain its seat at the table in a town completely controlled for at least another six months by Democrats.”

Finally, Republican strategist Mark McKinnon says the conservatives calling out the NRA are making a big mistake.

MARK MCKINNON: “I think it’s interesting that you’ve got an organization here trying to hold true to principle, and conservatives are trying to attack them for holding true to principles, and I think it’s problematic from a party point of view.”

But what do you think? Is conservative concern legitimate that the NRA is too cozy with Democrats?

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WRITER: Newsy Staff

PRODUCER: Newsy Staff