Once again, most of the State press corps followed Wendy Davis today as she made all the news in the gubernatorial election.
First, the Texas Tribune reports on Wendy Davis’ first web commercial, which was released today. The ad, which is just over 4 minutes and 30 seconds long, catalogs Davis’ life story, as well as some of her basic accomplishments. Davis’ story, a poor single mother who rose from Community College to TCU to Harvard Law School, eventually culminating in a career of public service on the Fort Worth City Council and Texas Senate, is a ubiquitous feature of any political discussion in today’s time. The discussion of her origins, which included a brief interview with her daughter Amber, The ad then chronicles her success in offsetting many of the recent education cuts, as well as her fights to end the backlog of rape kits. The entire ad was narrated by Davis, and overlaid with a montage of Texas images and clips. One, whose subtly was not lost on me, was an American Airlines jet taking off, a possible reference to the merger issue.
What has missing from the ad, however, was any mention of Davis’ epic filibuster or the abortion issue. It is still very early in the campaign, so I am not yet concerned, but I believe there is something to be said on this topic. Bill White ran as weak moderate; a man more wise than me at the State Convention last year called it “weak Republican syndrome.” It did not work out well for him, but Davis is different, that is what makes her campaign all the more inspiring.
When the crowds of thousands of people descended upon the Capitol this summer, it was not because of mildly-defined Democratic economic goals, it was about abortion. An actual Democratic Party social issue awoke the sleeping masses. Davis would be ill-advised to not remember and take advantage of this.
The other major piece of news, also from the Texas Tribune, revolved around Davis’ comments about San Antonio’s recently passed non discrimination ordinance. Davis stated that she fully agreed with the measure, similar to one she voted for in Forth Worth during her time on the City Council, and hoped the protections would become “commonplace” throughout Texas.
For what it is worth, Davis also supports gay marriage. The positions are very different from the last Democrat to run for Governor in 2010, Bill White, who nearly angered my family into a protest vote for Farouk over White’s equivocation on basic issues of human rights for LGBT people. Of course, that was a long four years ago, well before any serious Democrats had taken up the cause.
As the Tribune article notes, this will be sure to help distinguish Davis from Abbott in the weeks and months to come.
