Texas Megathread

[Indy Texas]

Some highlights from Texas Tribune's Inside Intelligence report (PDF), which allows various "political insiders" in Austin to comment on the state of the parties and the 2014 elections candidly and anonymously. They're very worried about the lieutenant governor's race, which could end up garnering more attention than the top of the ticket.

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[Indy Texas]

I wonder if I can vote in the GOP primary. I should find out.

If you're registered to vote in Texas, you can vote in the GOP primary. Even if you're a Democratic troll who works for Wendy Davis.

[Indy Texas]

Something you guys missed...
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/rick-perry-offers-john-cornyn-a-ringing-endorsment/nbs83/

Gov. Perry endorses Senator Cornyn...

I think he's trying to poke Ted Cruz in the eye in the subtlest way possible. He made a few jokes about him during the shutdown, campaigned for his opponent during the Senate primary, and if they are both on a debate stage together in Iowa in 2016 things will get very interesting.

[Indy Texas]

Tom Pauken is quitting the Texas governor's race. Let the Republican coronation begin.

The GOP LiteGuv primary will be the most interesting race in Texas of 2014, including both primaries and the general election.

[Indy Texas]

Ted Cruz at ALEC Summit: End Direct Vote for Senators
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/ted-cruz-at-alec-summit-end-direct-vote-for-senators.html/

lol. Didn't know he was such a Dewhurst fan. This has to be red meat more than actual conviction, because the cognitive dissonance is remarkable.

This is actually a pretty popular idea on some of the fringes of the right.

Mike Lee also supports it. It seems to be a specific "fringest of the Tea Partiers" thing.

Besides the basic political gain of repealing that amendment (the GOP could pick up quite a few Senate seats), I don't see why so many grassroots populist Tea Party activists support it. I would assume they would call any Democratic attempt to repeal the same amendment a "powergrab" by "the elites."

The same people usually heavily support partisan elections for state and local judges, on the grounds that it allows the voters to "hold activist judges accountable." This despite the fact that the judiciary was never intended to be a "popular" institution of government the way the executive and legislative branches were.

[Indy Texas]

Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Lawrence Miller has switched parties. The Democrats now have their first statewide official in the state since 1998.

Do you have a link? Googled his name and nothing came up about this.

[Indy Texas]

Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Lawrence Miller has switched parties. The Democrats now have their first statewide official in the state since 1998.

Do you have a link? Googled his name and nothing came up about this.

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14488/breaking-judge-lawrence-meyers-of-the-statewide-court-of-criminal-appeals-joins-democratic-party

Burnt Orange Report post + the TX Dem Party's official statement.

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Something seems odd about this. What would have stopped him from simply running as a Republican in the special election? Running as a Democrat in Texas is already an uphill battle, but doing so in a far down-ballot race where most people aren't going to bother "crossing over" like they might for governor or Senator makes no sense.

[Indy Texas]

4 out of 4 Republican lieutenant governor candidates want creationism taught in public schools.

Shameful.

And of course...

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In other words, what should be done? Absolutely nothing.

[Indy Texas]

I don't know who Ray Madrigal is or what his deal is. My only guess is that he's a South Texas Eddie Lucio-style Democrat who is vehemently anti-abortion and is opposing Davis for that reason.

[Indy Texas]

Dallas newspaper on the good things and bad things for Leticia Van de Putte's name

Basically saying that she needs to present herself as a hispanic in South Texas and hispanic majority/plurality areas, while not bringing her race up in white areas.

Surprised she didn't just keep her maiden name, or at least use it when she got into politics. The Hispanic surname effect is strong enough in the "brown" parts of Texas that State Rep. Trey Fischer styles himself as State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (his mother is a Latina).

[Indy Texas]

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Ah yes, the ex-husband receiving the mobile residence while the ex-wife receives the family's conveyances, both those with wheels and those that sit on cinder blocks in the driveway. A true white trash Texas divorce settlement.

Maybe the lesson to be learned from both Davis' and Abbott's stories is that luck played a role in both of their success stories just as it does in everyone else's. Would Wendy Davis have made it to Harvard had she not fallen in love with a lawyer of means? Would Greg Abbott have gone onto a distinguished political career had the tree that fell on his spine been in the yard of, say, a teen mom living in a trailer without two nickels to rub together rather than a River Oaks mansion whose owners could be coaxed into giving him a settlement that has guaranteed him hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual income for the rest of his life?

[Indy Texas]

Some of the big money donations indicating which corner Rich Texans are in this year...

Wendy Davis: 1 2

• Carolyn Oliver, emergency room doctor and healthcare advocate - $1,000,000
• Steve Mostyn, plaintiff's lawyer - $445,250
• Bobby Patton, owner of Los Angeles Dodgers - $250,000
• Sid Bass, oil and gas investor - $200,000
• Charles Butt, heir to the HEB supermarkets chain - $94,273
• Lee Fikes, CEO of Bonanza Oil - $80,000
• Jim Finley, CEO of Finley Resources (oil & gas) - $69,220

Greg Abbott: 1 2

• Doylene Perry, widow of real estate magnate Bob Perry - $250,000
• Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners - $200,000
• Marcus Hiles, CEO of Western Rim (real estate development) - $200,000
• Kenny Trout, Excel Communications founder - $200,000
• Ray Hunt, heir to Hunt family oil fortune - $100,000
• Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry's Restaurants - $100,000 *
• Nancy Kinder, wife of Kinder Morgan Energy CEO Richard Kinder (formerly of Enron fame) - $100,000
• Peter Thiel, CEO of PayPal, venture capitalist and libertarian activist - $100,000 **
• Paul Foster, CEO of Western Refining - $100,000
• Jeffrey Hildebrand, CEO of Hilcorp Energy, University of Texas regent - $100,000
• Bob McNair, owner of Houston Texans - $100,000
• Boone Pickens, CEO of BP Capital Management - $100,000

* I was surprised to see that the Fertittas are backing Abbott since they usually give their money to Democrats and were very big contributors to Bill White's 2010 campaign for governor.

** Technically a Rich Californian rather than a Rich Texan, Peter Thiel has always perplexed me. I'm not suggesting you're not allowed to be both gay and a Randian anarcho-capitalist but it seems odd that he always puts his money behind people who think he's sinful and depraved, that he should be allowed to be fired for his sexuality and that he shouldn't be able to get married.

[Indy Texas]

Davis's inconsistencies are coming out for all to see: she's the Manti Teo of Texas politics

She lied about her age. BFD. Is there a middle-aged woman who has never done that?

[Indy Texas]

So Wendy Davis, as a young woman facing certain ceilings in how high she could climb professionally, fell in love with an older, wealthier man who proceeded to finance her law school education and facilitate her climb in politics.

Isn't that basically what Margaret Thatcher did?

[Indy Texas]

What are her attackers trying to say? That once you marry a rich person, you are like a serf bound to them for life and have no right to end the marriage? Clearly it's impossible for one to have an unhappy marriage to a wealthy spouse. After all, rich people are inherently unimpeachable super-humans and Wendy Davis should have been grateful for the privilege of being married to such a person. If she's anything less than ecstatically happy, she's clearly a gold-digger.

This is all Wendy Davis' fault. If she had just stayed in the kitchen making sandwiches and learned her place, none of these problems would ever have happened.

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Greg Abbott has shown he's perfectly willing to breach the bounds of gentlemanly conduct and figuratively "hit a woman." I don't see why Wendy Davis shouldn't be allowed to figuratively "hit a cripple" if that's the kind of race he wants to run.

[Indy Texas]

I don't necessarily have a problem with her story herself - personal lives should mostly stay out of politics. It's that she withheld the truth from the voters and tried to completely cast herself as the victim instead of owning up to her mistakes.

What mistakes? Marrying someone you later wish you didn't? You know how many Americans feel the same way?

[Indy Texas]

^I assumed he meant the bio discrepancies there. Tmthforu is pretty much always a respectful poster so I doubt he was inferring something like not giving her ex-husband a shout out in every stump speech as a "mistake"

You are correct - I don't think it's something that people should hold against her when running for office, but I don't think it necessarily looks good when some of the "weaknesses" in her bio were conveniently left out to paint a better picture of her.

Something should be stated though about her supporters mocking Abbott for being wheelchair bound - I felt pretty disgusted watching that video. Her campaign needs to be flawless to win in November, and so far, it's anything but. "Stand with Wendy" as the campaign slogan was poorly thought out, also.

I don't see anything "wrong" about her saying she was 19 when she divorced when she was 21. She separated from him when she was 19 and was 21 by the time everything was finalized by the courts. That's how most people speak of marriage - they pinpoint the separation as the "end" of their marriage when speaking informally and outside a court of law. The marriage was effectively over when they separated - that is when she was "on her own" and that is what is relevant to a personal narrative.

I didn't see Abbott being "mocked" in the video. The fact that he is paraplegic was mentioned as a potential negative to his campaign and the fact is that it is a negative - not from a character standpoint but from a simple optics/logistics standpoint. It limits photo ops; he can never be seen standing behind a podium or dais looking authoritative; his range of motion is limited, making it hard to express himself with body language in public. He will always appear smaller than whoever he is with unless they are also seated. It looks terrible to see a photograph where a supporter is bending down to shake his hand while he looks up at them. I'm sorry if that sound shallow or petty but what about political campaigns isn't shallow or petty?

And as for his accident, yes, I will go there and I see no reason it shouldn't be fair game. This is a man who is very wealthy today because he got a very big legal settlement years ago that a Texan in his position could not receive today because of tort reform and that Greg Abbott does not want other Texans to be able to receive. Franklin Roosevelt's physical handicaps and his struggles to lead a normal life helped him to empathize with the millions of Americans who were simply struggling to feed and shelter their families during his early presidency.

Greg Abbott doesn't seem to have learned from his experience at all. He was a victim of bad luck and yet he prefers, like most of his party, to believe that there is no such thing as bad luck, that we all control every aspect of our lives and that if someone is poor or unemployed or sick, it is all their fault, they must be lazy or unmotivated and they are undeserving of help.

[Indy Texas]

State Rep. Sarah Davis (R-Houston) has been endorsed by the LGBT group Equality Texas, making her the first Republican ever to receive the group's endorsement.

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Davis is being challenged in the GOP primary for her seat by conservative activist Bonnie Parker (yes, that is her real name) who disagrees with the incumbent's views on abortion and LGBT issues.

[Indy Texas]

Texas Republican Lieutenant Governor's Debate Livestreaming on YouTube

Dewhurst vs. Patrick vs. Patterson vs. Staples


8:06 PM -- Candidates vie to determine who loves fetuses more.

8:07 PM -- Jerry Patterson tries to channel Mitt Romney, pivoting from "When you're dead, you're dead" to "We must protect life" in the same response.

8:09 PM -- Dan Patrick, if you talk about the need to secure the border and cite the millions of illegal aliens who have been apprehended, doesn't that suggest the border is already pretty secure?

8:14 PM -- Whose idea was it to have everyone answer the same question twice? Asking a politician to be "more specific" is a futile effort.

8:16 PM -- Todd Staples, it's never a good sign when the moderator forgets you're there.

8:17 PM -- Dewhurst's nose grew two inches when he called himself a "strong conservative leader."

8:24 PM -- Todd Staples: Two thirds filibuster rule worked well when my party was the minority and now that we're the majority it doesn't. (paraphrasing)

8:26 PM -- Jerry Patterson on how he's about to starve to death on his $120K/yr salary.

8:27 PM -- Patterson is the "Second Amendment" candidate and is daring his opponents to try to get to his right on that issue.

8:29 PM -- Staples: "We need to care for mothers" who we are going to force to have babies instead of an abortion. Commie...

8:30 PM -- Patterson: no abortion exception for rape or incest

8:31 PM -- Patrick: need an exception for life of mother but a good mother will die so her baby can live. Whaaaaa.....?

8:32 PM -- David Dewhurst wants to make it clear that unlike Senator Patrick he will not peer pressure a woman into unnecessarily dying in childbirth.

8:34 PM -- Moderator: Money for poor women and their babies? Patrick: "Absolutely."

8:37 PM -- Marijuana Decriminalization? Dewhurst says no. Staples says no. Patrick says no ("We're not going to go the way of Colorado.") Patterson says no, but open to medicinal use.

8:40 PM -- Dewhurst and Patrick are still bickering about the infamous 2013 abortion bill and ignoring the moderator questions.

8:41 PM -- Medical marijuana? Dewhurst says no. Staples says no. Patrick says no, complains about how dang hippies are ruining Colorado for everybody, and goes there yet again on Dewhurst and the abortion bill. Patterson says yes - "I see nothing wrong with it."

8:43 PM -- Patterson: Creationism (but probably not in science class), Intelligent Design and Evolution should all be taught in school.

8:44 PM -- Todd Staples will not apologize for being a Christian. "Our children need to be exposed to [creationism]." Randomly hits Dewhurst on having personal security detail.

8:45 PM -- Dan Patrick: children will be "confused" if they only hear about creationism in church an don't get to hear about it in school too. "Not only should it be taught...it should be heralded!"

8:46 PM -- Dewhurst: Believes in creationism but thinks kids should be taught about evolution and ID in schools also.

8:47 PM -- Patterson thinks children should learn about different religions in school. (SHARIA LAW OMG WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?)

8:48 PM -- Staples brings up Dewhurst's loss to Cruz in 2012, compares him to Charlie Crist.

8:50 PM -- Term limits for statewide offices? Patrick says yes (2 terms). Dewhurst only wants them if legislators get them too. Staples and Patterson say yes.

8:52 PM -- Dewhurst: "I'm severely an unashamed conservative."

8:55 PM -- Patrick: "The Establishment doesn't want me elected."

[Indy Texas]

Davis supports open carry law.

Good God, at this point she's Mitt Romney running for Senate in 1994 but with blonde hair and without the money or the wholesome family image. Always eager to please. Maybe next she'll tell us she was an independent during Clinton-Gore and is not trying to take us back to the era of Clinton-Gore.

The only people who care about open carry as a make-or-break issue are people who will never vote for her or any Democrat, and people who, quite frankly, I'm not sure the Democratic Party should even want to get the support of.

I've been consistently disappointed with this woman. I was skeptical of her from the getgo due to the way she became such a household name, and at this point the inept, amateurish campaign she's running is making me want a refund on the $50 I gave her. I'd rather have Bill White running again. Not that he would win either.

[Indy Texas]

To top it off, Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News, published another scoop revealing that Davis used to be an active Republican until she switched parties in 2006.

All I've heard is that she's voted in Republican primaries before and made a couple of donations to Republican candidates.

I'm not going to fault her for that considering I've voted in Republican primaries before and donated to Republican candidates. There aren't enough severely partisan Democrats in Texas, even in the Democratic Party itself, for that to be too damning.

[Indy Texas]

DMN Record, Mug Shot from Steve Stockman's drug arrest that he now denies.
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/record-mug-shot-from-steve-stockmans-drug-arrest-that-he-now-denies.html/

[Indy Texas]

Rep. Stefani Carter, once seen as a rising GOP star, could be going down in flames in the GOP primary for her old seat that she left for a failed Railroad Commissioner campaign last fall.
Dallas Morning News Accident Report shows Rep Stefani Carter at fault in accident she cited at candidate forum
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/accident-report-shows-rep-stefani-carter-at-fault-in-accident-she-cited-at-candidate-forum.html/

Wow, so she tried to file a claim against the insurance of the guy she hit, and then she tried to compare her minor fender bender to the injuries one of her opponents suffered while serving in Afghanistan. I gave her props for being the first black female Republican in the Lege, but what a piece of trash...

[Indy Texas]

Is Davis that STUPID ?

Abbott should just go ahead and write his acceptance speech now.

Will he break Bush Jr's 68% from 1998 ?

The only people who care weren't going to vote for her under any circumstances anyway. This isn't 2004.

[Indy Texas]

Looks like Greg Abbott, despite being a paraplegic himself, has been making it harder for his fellow disabled Texans to get the workplace accommodations they are entitled to under the ADA.

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And he does this even has he remains the beneficiary of one such suit.

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This man really is shameless. I don't know how his brain can handle so much cognitive dissonance.