Posts Tagged ‘Wendy Davis’
Thursday, February 13th, 2014
Is there any better example of the steadfast political convictions of liberals than Unite Blue chief Becky Carrizales’s convictions on gun control?
Twitchy and @eriContrarian shed initial light on the subject, but a closer look at Carrizales’s Twitter account gives definitive evidence of her deep, principled gun control advocacy:
She also tweeted this, which gives an extra dose of irony:
She also seems to know all about setting a high-minded, respectful tone for debate:
And now? Naturally the Unite Blue director would be outraged at Wendy Davis standing with those “disgusting sick animals” at the NRA and pushing for open carry, right?
Eh, not so much.
But Carrizales does realize one important truth: Wendy Davis has always been at war with Eurasia.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Becky Carrizales, gun control, Guns, Texas, Twitter, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 12th, 2014
Wendy Davis is trying to make my head hurt.
Wendy Davis said Tuesday that she would have supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, if the law adequately deferred to a woman and her doctor.
In other news, LeBron James announced he was “open” to banning basketball, and Michael Bay announced he was protesting “loud, brainless action movies.”
As Ace of Spades HQ puts it: “Wendy Davis apparently just realized that she’s running for Governor of Texas and not New York.”
Evidently Davis never heard the phrase “You’ve gotta dance with them that brung ya.” The only reason Davis is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas is her pro-abortion filibuster. Davis is essentially saying to her national pro-abortion donors: “Thanks for all that money. Now I’ll just set this bucket full of your water down here on the steps, and you can carry it your own damn self.”
The flip-flop is an obvious pander, but how on earth could Davis or her camp think it a remotely effective pander? It’s like PETA announcing they’re considering opening a steakhouse.
It’s a brazen, shameless, dishonest, and ineffective ploy. Of course, all of those are pretty good adjectives to describe Davis’ gubernatorial campaign, if not her entire political career.
No wonder, as Perry vs. World notes, her campaign logo looks like a sinking ship:
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, abortion, Democrats, Elections, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, February 6th, 2014
Normally I would applaud a member of the Democratic Party supporting Second Amendment rights. But Wendy Davis supporting open carry?
Right. Pull the other one.
After all, this is the same Wendy Davis who voted against concealed carry by authorized CHL holders on college campuses, keeping Texas campuses fictive “gun free zones.” She also tried to do what Austin is trying to do: force gun shows to impose additional background checks on private citizens.
The fact that Davis hasn’t been universally opposed to gun rights may be explained by the fact that she’s a state senator in Texas, one with significant suburban and rural constituents and who only won her last election with 51% of the vote and thus one for which a hard-left gun control position would be a career-ending exercise. It’s also possible that, like Arlen Specter, another former Republican, she may have no fixed political positions whatsoever beyond the belief she should hold political office (or perhaps none beyond support for unlimited abortion).
Davis’ open carry pander is the worst kind of pander for a politician: a ham-handed, ineffective and incompetent one. Since Davis is already running as a liberal darling, and Abbott has already embraced open carry, there’s no chance this move will win her real converts among single-issue Second Amendment supporters, but a very real chance it will alienate her national liberal fundraising base.
Wendy Davis is a credible leader on Second Amendment rights the way Danny DeVito is a credible NBA center.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Greg Abbott, Guns, open carry, Second Amendment, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 5th, 2014
The last few weeks have not been kind to Wendy Davis.
Since announcing very respectable fundraising totals in early January, it’s been all downhill since then.
First came the revelations of the many falsehoods in her biography, then doubling down on some falsehoods.
Even the lefty Texas Observer said “the Wendy Davis operation is about the worst at media relations that I’ve ever seen. Her team’s mismanagement of the press is damaging her candidacy.” (This will not be a surprise to those reading this blog.)
Also, her decent fundraising numbers appear to have evaporated:
Of course, it doesn’t help her campaign that Davis has expensive tastes.
Everything about her campaign suggests she was woefully unprepared to run a statewide race in Texas.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Elections, Greg Abbott, Texas, Texas Gubernatorial Race, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
A smart politician, when caught telling a lie, apologizes, corrects the record and moves on.
Since the era of Bill Clinton, this is not the way Democrats do things. What Democrats do now is act outraged that critics and political opponents would dare point out their lies.
Rather than admit that she lied about key features of her biography, Wendy Davis is attacking the journalists that exposed her lies. But particularly baffling is her instance on embedding an obvious lie about her history smack dab in the middle of a paragraph that exposes the lie in her revised biography.
Wendy left home at 17, married when she was 18 and had her first daughter Amber when she was 19. She and her husband lived in a trailer, and Wendy continued to live there with Amber after they were separated. As a single mother at age 19, she often struggled to make ends meet. Wendy filed for divorce when she was 20 and she and Amber lived for a short time with her mother. The divorce became final when she was 21.
So:
- She married when she was 18.
- She filed for divorce when she was 20.
- Ergo, the assertion that “As a single mother at age 19, she often struggled to make ends meet” is obviously false, since she was not a single mother at age 19.
It’s like Lindsay Lohan stating “I was addicted to cocaine for several years. But fortunately, I was never addicted to cocaine.”
Again, facts are stubborn things. The smart thing to do would be for Davis to come clean completely and not try to peddle obvious lies as truth.
But her campaign gives precious little evidence that Davis is that smart…
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Democrats, Elections, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
Didn’t plan on doing two Wendy Davis pieces in a row, but her latest stream of non-denial denial tweets offered up so many slow, lazy pitches straight over the plate I felt the urge to partake of batting practice:
Now a few more bonus tweets from other people:
(Hat tip: Legal Insurrection.)
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Elections, Legal Insurrection, Texas, Twitter, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
Everyone and their dog has already chimed in on Wendy Davis’ serial prevarications by now, but hey, it is my state.
In the Dallas Morning News, political reporter Wayne Slater brought up examples of Davis’ campaign biography that don’t match up with the facts:
It is her biography — a divorced teenage mother living in a trailer who earned her way to Harvard and political achievement — that her team is using to attract voters and boost fundraising.
The basic elements of the narrative are true, but the full story of Davis’ life is more complicated, as often happens when public figures aim to define themselves. In the shorthand version that has developed, some facts have been blurred.
Davis was 21, not 19, when she was divorced. She lived only a few months in the family mobile home while separated from her husband before moving into an apartment with her daughter.
A single mother working two jobs, she met Jeff Davis, a lawyer 13 years older than her, married him and had a second daughter. He paid for her last two years at Texas Christian University and her time at Harvard Law School, and kept their two daughters while she was in Boston. When they divorced in 2005, he was granted parental custody, and the girls stayed with him. Wendy Davis was directed to pay child support.
In an extensive interview last week, Davis acknowledged some chronological errors and incomplete details in what she and her aides have said about her life.
“My language should be tighter,” she said. “I’m learning about using broader, looser language. I need to be more focused on the detail.”
Just try that “my language should be tighter” line if you ever get audited by the IRS.
Wendy Davis’ campaign biography leans heavily on her time as a single teenage mom. She was indeed all of those things, just not at the same time.
Other tidbits: When she ran for the Ft. Worth city council in 1996, she did it as a Republican and voted in GOP primaries.
Also, there’s that little bit about Davis leaving her husband the day after he paid off her Harvard loan. As one Twitter wag put it:
There are a few other tiny wrinkles to Davis’ life story. The fact her ex sought a restraining order to keep her from using illegal drugs while visiting her children is one. Another is the fact that she lied about some of the details of her life story under oath.
A few more Twitter observations on the latest Wendy Davis revelations:
It also doesn’t say much about her intelligence that she thought she could get away with these lies in the Internet era…
Tags:2014 Governor's Race, Dallas Morning News, Democrats, Texas, Texas Gubernatorial Race, Twitter, Wayne Slater, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 16th, 2014
I’ve been going through Wendy Davis’ finance report. I hope to report some interesting tidbits, but the Statesman beat me to the punch on one of the most interesting, reporting Davis received a hefty (raises pinky) one million dollars from a doctor Carolyn Oliver.
I’m sure liberals who complaining about the corrupting influence of money in politics will be asking her to give that back any minute now.
(Checks watch)
Any minute now…
In the meantime, here’s the Washington Post and Will Franklin on why Wendy Davis’ fundraising numbers are considerably less impressive than they seem to be.
Tags:2014 Election, Democrats, Elections, fundraising, Texas, Texas Gubernatorial Race, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 31st, 2013
I thought I would do a better job of keeping tabs on Texas statewide races, but there are just too many for me to do a good job tracking all of them. Going into next year, I’ll try to do a decent job of keeping track of the Governor’s Race (Spoiler: Greg Abbot wallops Wendy Davis), the Lt. Governor’s race, and the Attorney General’s race, and tidbits on any other races will just be a bonus. (If you know of any sites doing extensive coverage of the Ag Commissioner or Comptroller races, let me know.)
Here’s a roundup that will include some oldish news.
The most hilarious liberal initiative in the Texas governor’s race has to be Lady Parts Justice PAC. No, this is not an Instapundit parody. Liberals have actually reduced half American citizens to their genitalia. “Ladies! Why think with your brain when you can think with your vagina?”
Wendy Davis hires out-of-state consultant to run her campaign. This is my shocked face.
On the Democratic side, Wendy Davis and a Reynaldo “Ray” Madŕigal have filed for governor (I’m assuming it’s the same Madrigal who pulled in 5.7% in a run for Corpus Christi Mayor in 2012) and outgoing El Paso Mayor John F. Cook is running for Land Commissioner.
Interview with Madrigal:
Greg Abbott pledges to keep Texas budgets small.
Abbot and Davis wrangle over redistricting lawyers fees.
Davis is not ready for prime time. “All this leaves me seriously wondering whether Davis’ campaign has any chance of winning in 2014. Or worse: whether Davis didn’t take the Valley seriously enough to come here polished and ready and with her A-team. Surely this type of poor venue and repetitive shallow non-statements and unprofessional media handling wouldn’t play, in say, a Dallas crowd.” And that’s from a liberal Democrat.
There was a Lt. Governor’s debate:
kcentv.com – KCEN HD – Waco, Temple, and Killeen
Todd Staples releases a good list of heavy hitting donors.
David Dewhurst releases a better one. Harlan Crow, Jerry Jones, Red McCombs and Drayton MacLane all stick out as particularly heavy hitters. (Another name, Kevin Eltife, is probably best know as a Republican state senator who wants to raise taxes.)
David Dewhurst has a campaign video out:
Jerry Patterson touts his 2nd Amendment credentials:
Dan Patrick touts the endorsement of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
A closer look at how Michael Quinn Sullivan and TFR do endorsements.
Democratic State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio makes her Lt. Governor’s run official.
Attorney General candidate Ken Paxton racks up over 220 East Texas endorsements for his Attorney General bid.
Paxton also campaigned in East Texas.
He also announced the endorsement of Ted Cruz for Senate chairman Kelly Shackelford:
As well as state senator Brian Birdwell
The Texas Tribune does a roundup of the AG race, noting Paxton had won 6 out of 6 straw polls, while Dan Branch raised the most money (including a check from George W. Bush).
Meanwhile, AG candidate Barry Smitherman touts his right to life endorsements.
AG candidate Dan Branch vowed to defend Texas Voter ID Laws. I doubt that’s a differentiator among GOP candidate…
Branch also picked up a lot of business endorsements, including Texas Association of Builders’ HOMEPAC, the Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND, and the Texas Apartment Association. It was always pretty clear Branch was going to get the lion’s share of “moneybags PACs” endorsements…
Susan Combs endorses Glenn Hegar for Comptroller.
Sid Miller is running for Agricultural Commissioner, and he’s already wrapped up endorsements from Young Conservatives of Texas, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and Ted Nugent.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Democrats, Elections, Glenn Hegar, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Ken Paxton, Leticia Van de Putte, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Ray Madrigal, Republicans, Sid Miller, Susan Combs, Texas, Todd Staples, video, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas, unions | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 12th, 2013
Texas Attorney General and 2014 Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott unveiled a number of “We the People” policy initiatives last night at the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party geared toward strengthening the rights of individuals against the power of the state. I was on a teleconference with Abbott Sunday in which he previewed the policies to bloggers with the caveat we’d wait until after the speech to talk about them.
The in-depth document is here.
Taken individually, some may seem like welcome, small-ball approaches to protecting individuals from various avenues of government overreach. Taken together, they constitute an interesting, possibly far-reaching template for guaranteeing individual rights, and give Abbott a serious claim to being not only a small government conservative, but one favoring individual rights over the convenience of big business as well.
The brief overview of Abbott’s proposals:
- Recognize a property right in one’s own DNA.
- Make state agencies, before selling database information, acquire the consent of any individual whose data is to be released.
- Prohibit data resale and anonymous purchasing by third parties.
- Prohibit the use of cross-referencing techniques to identify individuals whose data is used as a larger set of information in an online database.
- Require disclosure by all legislators, statewide elected officials, and gubernatorial appointees of any contract, subcontract, or paid relationship with a public entity, including the state and political subdivisions, held by those individuals or their spouses. Violation of this requirement would be a Class A Misdemeanor.
- Prohibit legislators from voting on legislation from which they may financially benefit by closing loopholes in the Texas Government Code, and providing options for both criminal and civil suit to ensure the enforcement of these provisions.
- Prohibit the use of tax dollars for the purpose of engaging a registered lobbyist to lobby on the behalf of a school district or the board or association thereof.
- Prohibit legislators and statewide elected officials who are licensed by the State Bar of Texas from earning referral fees or receiving any benefit from legal referral. Violation of this requirement would be a Class A Misdemeanor.
- Amend the Texas Election Code to require quarterly reporting of campaign financial data by legislators, statewide elected officials, and political action committees.
- Within the last 30 days before an election, impose a requirement that no funds received from a single person or entity above $5,000 may be expended by a campaign or political action committee until those funds have been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission and posted on the campaign or political action committee website.
- Allow voters in counties and municipalities the option to repeal red light camera ordinances and operations by voter-initiated referendum.
- Allow CHL holders to openly carry handguns.
- Allow CHL holders to carry weapons on campus at institutions of higher education, subject to appropriate limits, at the option of the boards of regents of public institutions of higher education, and the internal decision-making of private institutions of higher education.
- Texas should prohibit the state government from enacting a “healthcare exchange” under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
- Pass a state law providing that state resources shall not be expended and state personnel shall not be employed in enforcing or implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
No Republican is going to object to the anti-ObamaCare plank.
I predict that the red light camera plank will be profoundly popular across party lines.
The Open Carry plank is a bold Second Amendment statement on Abbott’s part, considering he’s not facing any serious primary opposition. It might also lure Wendy Davis into pumping up the volume on her opposition to gun control, which will no doubt endear her to no Texas outside he far left-wing base.
Abbott’s plank on property rights to your own DNA is the plank with the last immediate effect and possibly the most profound long-term consequences.
This is just a few preliminary impressions. I want to give the document another going-over and contemplate the implications.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Greg Abbott, Guns, ObamaCare, privacy rights, red light cameras, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Guns, ObamaCare, Texas | No Comments »
