Will Franklin has dug even deeper in to the primary voting statistics and they are, if anything, actually worse than previously reported (which were already plenty bad).
A few examples:
Read the whole thing.
Posts Tagged ‘2014 Governor’s Race’
Even More on Wendy Davis Failure
Monday, March 17th, 2014WILLisms Breaks Down Democratic Turnout Failure
Wednesday, March 5th, 2014Will Franklin has an interesting piece up detailing just how poorly Democrats did in primary turnout on Tuesday, noting that both the Democratic Party total, and Wendy Davis’ numbers compared to Bill White, were down significantly from 2010. By contrast, “Abbott received 1,219,831 votes, or 91.50% in a four-way primary race. 1,333,010 Republicans voted in the 2014 primary.”
For all the money BattleGround Texas is pouring into the state, Democrats are doing worse than they did in 2010.
Although Franklin doesn’t go into the 2012 numbers, I’d also like to note that overall Democratic votes are down from 590,164 in 2012 to 546,480. Normally a presidential election year will have higher numbers, but there were no big-money, hotly contested races at the top of the Democratic ticket that year. Turnout should have been up this year. It wasn’t.
More Will Franklin:
In short, there is a partisan enthusiasm gap in Texas, and Republicans are winning it. Democrats have years of soul searching and retooling to do before they’ll even sniff winning their first statewide race since the early 90s. Anointing someone known almost exclusively for filibustering on behalf of elective late-term abortion post 5 months of pregnancy may have set the Democrats’ plan back at least one full election cycle, if not more.”
Read the whole thing.
A Quick Overview of Primary Results
Wednesday, March 5th, 2014A very brief look at last night’s primary results:
Texas Governor’s Race: State of Play and Update
Wednesday, February 26th, 2014It’s a mere six days before the March 4 primary, and I haven’t covered the various statewide races nearly as well as I would have liked. (Maybe Ukraine will refrain from blowing up this week.) So I’ll try to catch up with some statewide race update, including a summary of the current state of play for those just tuning in, as well as some race tidbits (some of which are, alas, fairly musty). First up: The Governor’s Race.
Gregg Abbott is a better, more focused candidate with a better organization in a deep red state. Abbott has both experience running successful, high-profile statewide races, has a solid record of achievement as Attorney General, and unquestioned conservative credentials. I’ve seen Abbott work a room in person, and he’s very good at it. He has all Rick Perry’s strengths and none of his weaknesses. He came into the campaign with a hfty warchest and continues to raise money at a record pace.
Wendy Davis, by contrast, is a photogenic white woman whose main claim to fame is her filibuster in support of unlimited late-term abortions. Davis had a fairly indifferent record as a State Senator, and called herself a Republican back in the 1990s. She has been fundraising at a more-than-respectable clip, and pulling in impressive amounts of out-of-state liberal special interest money. She probably has more enthusiasm at the liberal grassroots level than any statewide top-of-the-ticket candidate since Ann Richards. Her campaign has frequently seemed very poorly organized, and indifferent or hostile to potentially friendly reporters. Her fibs about her life story and unconvincing flip-flops on guns and late-term abortions may have hurt here with swing voters, but don’t appear to have dampened the enthusiasm of her liberal base. She’s aided in her campaign by Battleground Texas, a well-funded attempt to “turn Texas blue” by registering more Democrats.
Obviously, Abbott is going to win the Republican nomination, and, despite her many stumbles, Davis is going to win the Democratic nomination. Abbott is going to cream her in November.
Now some race tidbits:
The Deep, Deep Gun Control Convictions of Unite Blue Head Becky Carrizales
Thursday, February 13th, 2014Is 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:
Have we forgotten Newtown already?Why are we letting the NRA win http://t.co/mN12YRGi0i We the People need to take our lives back! #Gunsense
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) September 16, 2013
@JeffersonObama #NRA gun sellers & makers are truly disgusting sick animals who want to get guns to younger kids!?
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) January 27, 2013
She also tweeted this, which gives an extra dose of irony:
(◔‿◔)⁀* Excellent Job @bcarrz ŦЩΞΞTING directly to those cowards that put the NRA and self interest Before common sense & the poor victims
— Maverick™ (@spooney35) April 18, 2013
She also seems to know all about setting a high-minded, respectful tone for debate:
Lovely, a Woman fighting against our girls! FukOff you Jerk–>@JillStanek @girlscouts @alovelily
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 12, 2014
@copperbird7 what an incompetent, fukin idiot you are! Only deserving
a$$es receive this treatment. Go hang w/ the RightWingers! #Blocked
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 12, 2014
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.
All I can say is Grow Up! This is why Dems in TX lose! Not every Dem will think like you! Vote #TeamWendy! @JimmyPrinceton @eriContrarian
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 6, 2014
. @bcarrz Wow! You're fine with Wendy Davis putting politics before the lives of children? My donations and volunteer time are OVER.
— L (@OrwellForks) February 6, 2014
But Carrizales does realize one important truth: Wendy Davis has always been at war with Eurasia.
Woman Famous For Filibustering Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks Open To Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks
Wednesday, February 12th, 2014Wendy 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:
Pull The Other One, Wendy
Thursday, February 6th, 2014Normally 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.
The Incredible Shrinking Wendy Davis
Wednesday, February 5th, 2014The 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:
Apples to apples (campaign vs. campaign: Jan. 1-23), Greg Abbott raised $3.1+ million, while Wendy Davis raised $288,674.
— Will Franklin (@WILLisms) February 4, 2014
Greg Abbott has roughly 3x as much cash on hand as Wendy Davis + Battleground Texas + Texas Victory Committee combined.
— Will Franklin (@WILLisms) February 4, 2014
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.
Wendy Davis Continues to Double Down on Stupid
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014A 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…
In Which I TweetFisk Wendy Davis’ Non-Denial Denials
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014Didn’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:
1. How about true attacks? 2. You mean sleazy like lying under oath? http://t.co/YMLmnoFIhd @WendyDavisTexas #tcot
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
So why exactly is your ex-husband an "ally of Abbott"? @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
1. Who is this our? 2. Even when their stories are partially fictional? @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
And just how does importing the Blue State model that failed #Detroit and is failing California give "a better future"? @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
A true story, that is, except for the parts that are fictional. @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
There are other TX women who filed for divorce the day after their husbands paid off their student loans from Harvard? @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
No, yours is the story of how a wealthy white woman got her husband to pay her way through Harvard Law then ditched him. @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
People haven't been attacking your family, they've been attacking your lies. http://t.co/mZOYRXlMOZ @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
Millions of Texas women who filed for divorce the day after their husbands paid off their student loans from Harvard Law? @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
And tell me: Just when did the Dallas Morning News become part of the Abbott campaign? http://t.co/qVrldIotZh @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
Hey @WendyforTexas, you know what I'm not seeing anywhere? A point-by-point refutation of how the DSM story is false. Did I miss that?
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
When the facts are on your side, you pound the facts. Since they're obviously not, you've been pounding the table. @WendyDavisTexas
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) January 22, 2014
Now a few more bonus tweets from other people:
Why do you blame Greg Abbot when the author of the piece said they emphatically did not speak w Abbot campaign @WendyDavisTexas ?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 21, 2014
@DLoesch the thing is, @GregAbbott_TX would never do this. Why blame him? It makes her look like a victim.
— Kathleen McKinley (@KatMcKinley) January 21, 2014
A Ft. Worth business owner told me today "Most here knew about Davis's lie. Now the rest of the country knows it." Why the need to lie?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 22, 2014
@WendyDavisTexas @BattleSwarmBlog You're wrong. Most women work hard and reach their goals w/o the assistance of a wealthy man.
— Angie Morrison (@angiequips) January 22, 2014
(Hat tip: Legal Insurrection.)