Everybody’s Talking About It

February 07, 2014 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

Walleye snot nosed hissy fit:

There’s very little talk among political junkies in Texas this morning about anything else except Wendy Davis’ stunning and unexpected announcement that she favors open carry in Texas.  That means strapping a gun on your hip and parading around town like something out of a damn John Wayne movie.  Oh yeah, Texas needs more guys with tiny winkies strapping on holsters.

It’s pandering plain and simple.  I know that no candidate is going to agree with me about 100% of things.  However, I do expect the candidates I support to be honest with both me and themselves.  We have lost every statewide race in Texas since Elvis died because our political consultants say we have to pander to the rightwing to win.

This is not about agreeing with me.  This is about dumb campaigning.  It is about a notion that the only way you can win in Texas is to be untrue to yourself.   This one in particular is about sacrificing your children’s safety on the alter of winning.

Let me tell you one thing.  Given a choice between a Real Republican and a Democrat who talks like a Republican, Republicans will pick the Real Republican every damn time.  And your base Democrats will stay at home.  I have statistics to prove that.

As Paul Begala says, “Texas is not a Republican state.  Texas is a non voting state.”  And the non voters are Democrats who have had nothing to vote for.

Wendy Davis did not get national attention by pandering to Republican voters.  She got it by talking to the base.  Hear this one thing:  there is not a persuable voter universe out there.  Repeatedly, it has been shown not to exist.  But, there are a lot of Democrats not voting.

The Davis campaign has had a rough month.  They’ve been insular and unnecessarily rude to reporters.  And have paid dearly for it.  I can tell you that way back last year I was involved in a fundraiser with Wendy in Galveston and her campaign threatened to not let her speak unless we got the reporter from the Galveston Daily News out of the room.  Here we were with 400 people who paid $50 each to hear her and her campaign is threatening us?  Holy crap, Son, what part of “me profit, you overhead” did her consultants not understand?  No, we didn’t tell anybody about it because it was so damn embarrassing – to her campaign.

She up and endorses a candidate for the senate race who is rich, rich, big ole Texas rich and has lavished money on Republicans like bread on the waters.  But he also lavished money on the Davis campaign’s lead consultants back when they were going hungry.  The whole thing stank like a goat with two week old catfish in his back pocket.

Then Texas writers began writing.  Columnists, bloggers, and tweeters asked when the hell that campaign is going to get its act together.

So in response, almost shockingly ironic, the campaign doubles down.  Out of the clear blue, they come out in favor of open carry.  Open damn carry.  Like that’s something that helps education, health care, jobs … you know, the things Texans care about.  The things Wendy is not discussing because she’s constantly having to defend herself while her consultants play audio tape games with Abbott’s campaign consultants.  They are playing inside baseball when Texans need health care.  It makes me want to storm in the headquarters with a paddle and threaten all the little consultants to grow up or get the hell out.

I thought her running mate, Leticia Van De Putte, summed it up best.  Leticia has been Wendy’s biggest supporter and left her father’s funeral to stand beside her during the filibuster.

Asked about her position on allowing Texans with a concealed handgun license to openly tote their pistols, Van de Putte publicly broke with Davis on the issue. The Associated press reported Thursday that Davis supports open carry legislation.

“I’ve had law enforcement back home say they don’t think open carry makes their jobs easier,” she said. “This is one where Wendy and I disagree … I’m with my law enforcement on this one.”

And Van de Putte also addressed whether she’d be running a joint ticket with Davis or whether they’d have separate campaigns and strategies.

“We’re both on the Democratic ticket, but Wendy is running her campaign. Let’s face it their campaign has had a tough couple of months. But I did not put my name in the lieutenant governor race because I want to help Wendy.”

James Moore, the guy you see on MSNBC with strong liberal credentials, blew up this morning and I can hardly blame him.

Even stranger, there’s no real polling that justifies Davis’ position. Never mind the fact that this is the type of issue that the average voter isn’t even thinking about, there was not a single Democrat in the Texas house that signed onto an open carry law, and a survey by Texas Politics on gun control indicates that 72% of the state’s Republicans are either in favor of stricter gun control laws or leaving the present regulations unchanged. Where is her constituency for this ill-considered pronouncement? And why now? Or why ever?

It is mid February.  If this campaign doesn’t get back on track soon, it’s over.  We’ve sacrificed another Democrat to a nonexistent “persuadable Republican,” when all we had to do is excite the base in urban areas and South Texas.

I feel sure her campaign is telling her, “What’s your base going to do?  Vote for Abbot?   They won’t do that because he’s worse for them than you are.”   No, they won’t vote for Abbott.  They just won’t vote and that is the worst thing you can do to Texas.

Your base is running away, Wendy.  You better find where they are going so you can led them there.

I know I’m going to get hollered at for having this hissy fit.  That’s okay.  I consider tar and feathers to be a fashion accessory.

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0 Comments to “Everybody’s Talking About It”


  1. Marion (formerly known as MM) says:

    JJ, thanks for sharing your hissy fit with us. It’s important that we know an it’s important that you have a good place to share it.

    I like Leticia’s response.

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  2. Marge Wood says:

    I’m not saying it’s right but the super rich guys give to both sides, generally. This is why we wear boots in Texas, just in case we didn’t look where we were stepping.

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  3. SomedayGirl says:

    I sent a pissy note and reminded her that the people she was pandering to would never vote for her her no matter what, but people like me would stop sending our recurring donation and stop volunteering. Which I did.

    We’ll see what they do over there at Wendy HQ.

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  4. Marge Wood says:

    I don’t guess anyone thinks Wendy should confess and say she is going to do better? Would that work? And I have to say, we just got back from buying arrows at Cabela’s. The place was crawling with folks all the way from toddlers to aged crones, many of whom were leaving with new rifles and related stuff. I can hope all day long that folks won’t use guns but the fact is, folks are buying guns and using them. Cabela’s has a big sign saying KNOW YOUR 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS, CLASSES ON such and such a day. This reminds me of the argument back when I was about 20 when everyone was arguing, should kids be taught abstinence or be given condoms and birth control pills. Remember that?

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  5. Marion (formerly known as MM) says:

    I was at Cabela’s the other day. How do they expect you to find the machines that blow hot air to dry your hands in the ladies room when they’re painted in camoflage?

    And if couples buy those camo comforters can they really find each other in bed at night?

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  6. Marge Wood says:

    Marion, the secret is, the guy buys one color camouflage and the woman buys another color. Nothing to it!

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  7. Marge Wood says:

    Oh, and who air blows their hands? Just wipe them dry on your jeans. It’s hard enough to find your way through all the camo.

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  8. Like others here I scratched my head when I heard from a third party that Wendy had said something in support of open carry. Very disappointing.

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  9. I’ve been reading about Wendy’s “Open Carry” statement for the past day or two. This is interesting because it really does show the difference between the cultures in Texas and New York. I have read comments here and elsewhere by Democrats who are also gun owners and who don’t feel that Wendy’s statement is all that alarming, even though they may not favor “open carry” themselves. I just read an article from the Associated Presss via ABC News which says: “Davis has said she supports expanding gun rights in Texas.” It also says that Wendy herself is a gun owner. Here’s the article:

    ABC News: Wendy Davis Supports Open Carry Law
    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/apnewsbreak-wendy-davis-supports-open-carry-law-22386356

    I am a true-blue Progressive Dem in New York City. This is not a “gun culture” environment, and our Gov. Cuomo enacted one of the strictest pieces of gun legislations in the country after Sandy Hook happened. But NY isn’t TX. As alien as it is to me, I do have to accept that there are millions of people out there who can’t seem to get by without their guns. I don’t understand it, and I wouldn’t want to vote for any of them. That said, I still feel that Wendy is a damn sight better than the Republican alternative. But it’s up to Texas Democrats to sort this out. As a foreign stater, it’s hard for me to know whether or not this issue would be a deal breaker because I did not grow up in that environment with “gun culture”.

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  10. Thanks for, once again, putting into words what a lot of us were thinking after reading the latest Wendyism.

    We don’t HAVE to vote for anybody for Governor. We can vote for Lettitia, and accomplish changing Texas. Power is in the hands of the Lt. Gov.

    Her campaign consultants need to read the Texas Democratic Party Platform. If they are dumber than dirt, and can’t do that much…. she deserves whatever fate befalls her.

    I no longer am able to hold my nose and vote for a Democrat who is really Republican lite. A lot of Democrats I know feel the same way. Who votes straight ticket any more? I don’t.

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  11. e platypus onion says:

    It doesn’t matter why she said what she said,the damage has been done. Wingnuts will jump on this and say Wendy lied in her auto-biography and she lies about open carry and she lied about “Stand with Wendy” and so what else will she lie about. The only stuff that matters is that wingnut voters will believe she lied and therefore is a typical lying Liberal and they won’t vote for her. They weren’t gonna vote for her anyway. I’m afraid this one is going down in flames and it will be self-induced. A-Butt could be videotaped flagrante delecto with a two-peckered billy goat today and it would probably only convince more wingnuts to vote for him.

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  12. Ralph Wiggam says:

    Miemaw asked “Who votes straight ticket any more?”

    I’ve been voting over 40 years and I have always voted for the Democrats as a protest vote against the more greedy, venal, and hateful Republicans. I would cut my hand off rather than use it to vote for a Republican. And I could not sleep at night if I did not vote against them at every opportunity.

    I will vote for Wendy because I would rather have a Governor who is 51% good than one who is 99% evil.

    This may be her Clayton Williams moment, but it does not make her opponent any easier to swallow.

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  13. You know what? I do not blame Wendy Davis for her opinions, stated or unstated. I blame the Texas Democratic Party. How the hell did we end up with her as a candidate, anyway? One historic effort does not make her a governor material. Who vetted her? Who knew her when all this governor talk started? Bet she left plenty of clues if anybody was looking. I’m getting damned tired of not having anybody groomed and trained to run for statewide office because the “Democratic Party Leaders” think it’s not a game they can’t win. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. I think somebody in Austin is throwing the game.

    We need to all get behind our candidate who can win. In a really big way, with our time, money and effort. We have no need to vet Leticia. We have known her work for years.

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  14. I’m ambivalent on the issue of open vs. concealed carry; I don’t think either option enhances public safety. If I were king, I would probably prohibit concealed carry (with mandatory, stringent penalties) and require open carry. Require the wee timorous mousies who can’t go to the HEB without their toys to strap ’em on and tote ’em around in plain sight. Maybe some Texan will make a fortune selling big-buckle belts with a gun holster on one side, an iPhone holster on the other, and a fanny pack on the backside. Don’t you look manly!

    But what a bone-headed move by the Davis campaign. Reminds me of nothing more than all of the other piteously stupid, self-inflicted gun-shot stories I read about on this site.

    The best thing about it is that we can now concentrate our energies and monies on Leticia’s campaign. She has more brains and sense, and the Lt Gov position is far more powerful and important.

    As an eternity of Perry-vision has proven, the state can limp along, even if the Gov can’t take his eyes off of himself. But by now, it should be clear to everyone that the Lege is a real mess if the Lt Gov is dimmer than a night light.

    The best leaders the Rs can produce is that goober, Dan Patrick, and Earnest Todd Staples. I don’t count Dewhurst, because I don’t think he counts anymore, now that everyone knows he has all of the personality and insight of a box of paper clips.

    Leticia Van De Putte can think circles around the three of them put together. Let’s work to make sure she has the opportunity to restore real leadership in this state.

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  15. Michael Lavender says:

    Knowing that getting Democrats moving in the same direction is exactly like herding cats, if I wanted the D’s to lose focus it would be with an issue like this.
    Where did the inspiration for the open carry statement come from? I don’t know, but if any statement could be calculated to divide the D’s more, I don’t know what it would be.

    Like it or not, there are a LOT of Democrats / Progressives in Texas who own guns. Not a few members of the NRA also are Democrats. Gun ownership in Tejas isn’t the badge of shame like it is in some other states.

    Is she trying to broaden her base, working to be more populist? Maybe. Say what you will, the average D voter, if turned off enough by this infighting, will simply not vote and that affects the whole program, not just Davis.

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  16. Marge Wood says:

    I vote straight ticket Democrat. The real problem for me is when two Dems run against each other for the same seat. Talk about a waste of resources. Of course with the current county judge race in Travis County, it all depends on whom you believe. Whom? Who? Maybe there needs to be a limit on how early someone can declare they are going to run so other folks have a fighting chance. And I appreciate the comments from everyone but right now esp. the ones frome Ralph Wiggam and Ms. J. Campaigns cost a ton of money. Statewide offices are esp. hard because the rural and urban areas tend to vote so differently. Rural folks are really worried because their population has shrunk so much and they feel beleagured. They also tend to mostly watch Faux News which of course only gives one perspective. And in more rural areas, even if you’re a Democrat, most of your friends and relatives are GOP which makes it hard to discuss any current events. Babbling along here.

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  17. Please don’t cross Wendy off your list.
    Women’s healthcare is too important an issue and we all know where she stands on that.
    She has a chance to win and all the good she could do more than balances this one issue

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  18. Juanita Jean says:

    Crone, as one of the “Texas Democratic Party leaders,” (I am elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee.) I am going to jump in here. We do not select the candidates. I would also like to say here and now that we did not select Kesha Rogers or Kinky Friedman either. The Texas Democratic Party, under the leadership of Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa (who was elected 2 years ago), has made a amazing transformation into being relevant. I’ll talk more about that later. However, that is not the attitude at the Texas Democratic Party at all. http://www.txdemocrats.org/splash

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  19. Disappointed: YES! Anger: yes. But trying to find the right and rationale (not driven by anger as so many in the Tea Party are) response. Go to Democratic functions and express disappointment and concern. BUT also find practical, concrete expressions that lead to change:

    Vote for Wendy. Yes. Contribute to her war chest: not so much.

    Vote for Leticia. YES! Contribute to her war chest: YES!

    Identify local candidates that are in line with my positions: YES. Vote for them: Hell, yes.

    Trying real hard not to react like a Tea Partier.

    Keep working to change TX to BLUE. HELL, YES!

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  20. Thanks for being honest.
    Ms Davis will have to do better to get any more of my money.

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  21. @Marge Wood Thanks for your appreciation of my comments. I always have to remember that there are many different opinions within the Democratic Party and they can vary widely by location. In NY state, we have some very “conservative” Dems who are basically Repubs Lite, and most of them live upstate in the farm and industrial regions. When Sen. Gillibrand was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate, Gillibrand was a congress member from upstate NY who is a gun owner and who had an “A” rating from the NRA. Gillibrand was quite liberal otherwise. Downstate in ultra-liberal NYC, we were a bit horrified by the thought of an NRA-approved gun-toting congress rep replacing our Hillary, but Gillibrand actually has become one of the strong voices in favor of gun safety and background checks, a la her good friend Gabby Giffords. That said, even if Dems are gun owners, I believe they should adhere to the Dem Party platform — either national or local, but AFAIK the platform doesn’t talk about “open carry” at all one way or the other, so that is an open question.

    @Michael Lavender I would also like to know how the issue came up with the AP reporter. Did he ask Wendy, or did she volunteer this information? Either way, she could have finessed this a bit, but she didn’t. That would be an indication of her lack of experience in a campaign of this magnitude, but is it a fatal flaw? Texas Dems have to sort it out.

    @Miemaw said: “Who votes straight ticket any more? I don’t.” I don’t vote straight ticket because in NY we have fusion voting which allows me to vote for the Democratic candidates via the Working Families Party, a very progressive group that backs existing candidates and acts as a pressure group to get elected officials to act on progressive legislation. If there are no WFP-approved candidates, though, I will vote for the Dems, but never for a non-progressive Dem. If there are no progressive Dems running on a major party line, I will vote for the Greens. So, yeah, there are other options, but I think Texans may want to stick with Wendy here, although I can’t tell them how to vote. It’s up to Texas now.

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  22. Don in Huaco says:

    I unsubscribed from the Wendy email list. R’s are gonna love redirecting money to down ballot races and judge races. Heads need to roll in the campaign. Hell, I like guns but no certifiable self respecting gun nut is EVER going to change his vote to D because Wendy favors open carry. Not happnin’. What next, criticizing the EPA?

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  23. As a foreign state guest here at the Salon, and as a lifelong Democrat, I would just like to thank JJ and the Beauty Salon regulars for this discussion. I said in my previous comment that I don’t know if Wendy’s announcement that she would allow “open carry” is a fatal flaw. I have also said it’s up to Texas Dems, but I personally think you might want to stick with Wendy. That’s just my opinion, but the more I think about it, the more I see parallels between Wendy and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. We really were apprehensive when Gillibrand — an NRA-approved gun owner from upstate NY — was chosen to replace Hillary in the Senate. But Gillibrand’s approach to gun legislation has been to strongly back restrictions on who can carry, favoring background checks, and reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban. So, you might want to give Wendy some leeway here in light of what I have previously described as the “gun culture” of Texas. I also mentioned Gabby Giffords in my previous comment and I see an analogy there too. Gabby is a Dem gun owner who could not be a stronger advocate for gun safety.

    But the issue is “open carry” in particular, and I cannot think of an issue that is more relevant to Texans than to New Yorkers, so again I have to say “Sort it, Texas!”. But don’t throw Wendy out too quickly. Just like we did with Gillibrand, you might want to give Wendy the space to build on the gun issue and talk about the restrictions she WOULD enact if she were Governor. JMO

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  24. I appreciated her filibuster, and still do, but I’m starting to wonder if she is very bright. (Yeah, I know she went to big-name schools. Proves nothing to me as far as common sense.)

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  25. Let’s still take a look at the big picture – if you stop supporting Wendy then a repub is a shoo-in. There’s still a LOT of time for ALL parties to make some really stupid statements, dumb ass retractions and enough spin to make us all motion sick. So take that deep breath and let’s do our damnest to make texas blue or at least a very nice shade of K&B purple.

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  26. Ralph Wiggam says:

    One more then I’m gonna go.

    The tragedy here is that we are talking about a Republican issue, GUNZ! In fact, we will have way more people hurt and killed in traffic accidents than in gun violence. And just like auto violence, gun violence produces hundreds of innocent victims for whom we must grieve. But if people don’t care about 2,500 fatalities a year on the highway, they are not going to get upset about a few hundred gun deaths. The GUNZ issue is like the voter fraud issue. Nothing there but Republican outrage.

    Meanwhile we have 6 million Texans under the age of 18. They need a respectable education and they won’t get it under a Republican administration.

    We have over 2 million Texas women living in households with income less than 25K/yr. They desperately need free-and-clear title to their uterus and they can’t get it as long as the Republicans have a lien on it.

    Let’s talk about our issues for millions of people who need a Democratic Governor.

    Okay, I’m done.

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  27. Though I personally believe guns are rarely useful for self defense and that both concealed and open carry laws are recipes for tragic accidents, I’m also a realist when it comes to Texas politics: I expect my politicians to compromise on things that I hold dear. Even Ann Richards did it. Jimmy Allred probably did it, too.

    My concern here is not that my candidate is taking a stand I disagree with. It’s whether she’s falling into the running as “Republican Lite” trap. Bill White did this and all but disappeared. I figured Wendy Davis couldn’t do it, because she came to prominence on women’s rights, but of course there are other issues.

    It’s very clear that Republican Lite doesn’t work. I hope she gives that some serious thought.

    And as for why she’s running: Anyone seen any other Democrats out there with enough support and interest to go up against the right-wing machine? We’ve still got statewide races with no Democrats in them and key races in which the Democrats running don’t seem to have a prayer of getting even 40 percent of the vote in November. We need someone who can get us all excited. Wendy had momentum and everyone else was sitting on their hands.

    I’m a big supporter of Leticia Van de Putte, too, but despite the conventional wisdom about the relative power of the Guv and Lite Guv (realistically, Perry has way more clout than Dewhurst), I think we need someone very visible in the governor’s seat as well as someone powerful running the Senate. There’s no reason we can’t elect both of them.

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  28. I, too, am from NYC, and wondered about Gillibrand when she was appointed. However, friends on the Upper West Side have a country home in Gillibrand’s old district, so I was able to get the scoop on her from my politics-junkie friends.

    I’m very happy to support Kirsten Gillibrand; she’s stellar on women’s and children’s issues, and has led the fight for criminal prosecution of rapists and sexual abusers in our military.

    As a progressive, I’ve been disappointed in plenty of candidates. I, too, frequently vote Working Families Party or Green. For me, the bigger issue is getting Democrats to VOTE in every election, including the “little ones” where there isn’t much to vote for (e.g. I’m routinely upset at the voting booth when judges run in both parties). Get everyone registered, and get everyone to the polls.

    Although born in Brooklyn and raised in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, and CT), I spent 16 months in the 1970s living in Houston, TX (pronounced differently from Houston St., blocks from home). While I believe Wendy shouldn’t pander, I’d love to see her get elected. That can only happen if Democrats are motivated, and get their asses to the polls.

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  29. Focus, folks. Texas does have a gun culture, something my relatives from other states do not understand. The open carry issue was going to come out at some point. I would rather trust Wendy Davis, who will undoubtedly want many safeguards in place, over Greg Abbott who will stand behind the party platform of wanting “constitutional” carry (which means no licensing, no rules, no background checks). The only way to bring sanity back to the state is to vote Blue!

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  30. JJ, didn’t mean you and Bubba. I was talking about that bunch of lawyers who have been calling the shots for us since one of my favorite lawyers ran for governor many years ago.

    We even started donating to the Texas Democratic Party again when you got on the committee.

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  31. Marge Wood says:

    Bravo for all

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  32. Juanita Jean says:

    Thanks, Crone.

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  33. Has she changed from a previously stated opinion? If she hasn’t changed and simply stated her actual opinion, it can hardly be called pandering. If it’s not her actual opinion, then it’s called lying. She may in fact hold an opinion opposed to many other Democrats and hold it honestly. I don’t have enough information.

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  34. I am also from a foreign state, but have been contributing to turn Texas blue, including Wendy and Letitia. I’m a little disappointed in Wendy now, but I agree with Sarah (MANY posts earlier). As the lesser of two evils, I prefer open carry to concealed. If I can see the weapon, I at least have the option to run in the other direction.

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  35. You say this “hissy fit” is not about agreeing with you, it’s about dumb campaigning. I say your “hissy fit” is not about dumb campaigning, it’s about supporter stupidity.

    Here’s the thing, if you want your candidate to win the election then the base needs to be rallying behind their candidate and showing their support, not tearing down a candidate simply because you don’t agree with them on every issue! That’s the Republican’s responsibility. It sounds like Wendy Davis doesn’t need to worry about her opposition, she really needs to worry about getting stabbed in the back by members of her own party.

    There’s an old saying, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” You didn’t accomplish anything positive by having your hissy fit. You simply brought Wendy Davis more negative attention and you gave the base some extra incentive not to bother voting in the election. Congrats, you succeeded in helping your opponent!

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  36. Elizabeth says:

    Not going to yell at Juanita Jean.

    Am going to say that the stupidest thing Dems could do is not vote. Greg Abbott is a vicious, bigoted, lying so-and-so, and voting for the lesser of two evils is not just a legitimate part of the democratic process, but a necessary one. Because not voting against the worst is EXACTLY like voting for it, in terms of who you have to live with for the term of office.

    Texas does not presently have a law against open carry (open carry in some places, not open carry generally.) I grew up knowing people other than law enforcement who routinely had a holstered piece on their hip, and a rifle in the pickup back window. Those trying to intimidate the anti-firearms people by carrying around their assault rifles–aren’t generally breaking any laws and they know it and they’re damned smug about it. So Wendy coming out in favor of open carry isn’t as big a deal to me–startling, yeah, but not horrible betrayal. Personally, I think it’s concealed carry that’s the bigger problem–people can sneak their weapons in, if you can’t see them. I have friends who have a concealed carry license, and do carry all the time (and some are Democrats) but that guy who shot the father in the movie theater…that was a concealed weapon he wasn’t supposed to have in a movie theater.

    As for the other things Wendy or her team have done or said that riled folks, I have no opinion other than I’m going to go to the polls and vote against Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott is worse than Rick Perry who has been worse than George Bush, and I will not lose the opportunity to vote against him. Since Wendy appears to be my alternate choice to Abbott, I’ll vote for her. If some other Democrat’s name is on the ballot, that’s who I’ll vote for because a lavender Democrat is better than a solid red Republican. I would prefer Wendy to some other Dems, who are wimpier than over-boiled spaghetti, but most of that kind hasn’t said they’re running. Wendy has not said anything to indicate to me that the issues I care most about are a lost cause with her.

    Now I know a lot of people are purists in politics (which, in my view, is always losing proposition and part of the reason we’re in the mess we’re in–demanding that a candidate be perfect in every way before you’ll vote for them.) And if you’re one of those, peace be with you and go your way. As for me, I believe it’s my obligation as a citizen to vote in every election, to vote for either the best, or against the worst, candidate in the race. We gain NOTHING if people sit out the vote.

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  37. Juanita Jean says:

    Elizabeth, I will vote a straight Democratic ticket with the exception of Kesha Rogers if she is the Democratic nominee for senate. I always have and I always will.

    Pete, son, you would be very hard pressed to find more than a dozen people in Texas who have done more for Wendy Davis than I have. I have used my site to raise money for her. I have sold tickets to her events. I have helped organize events for her. I have donated more money than I truly care to think about. I have phone banked, block walked, registered voters, and done training all to help Wendy Davis. I have spoken at fundraising events for Wendy and paid my own transportation and housing. I went to Austin to support Wendy in her time of need, twice. I got her to autograph my Wendy tennis shoes and I auctioned them – twice! – making over $3,100. I have traveled all over Texas to speak about Wendy. I have put my beloved grandson in a Wendy Davis tee shirt and advertised it all over Texas.

    If you disagree with what I said, fine. But, you have not earned the right to question my loyalty to the Democratic ticket. Got that? Back off that crap right now.

    Second, I work with the theory that the more crap you put up with, the more crap you’re going to get. To sit silent in the face of mistake after mistake is not being loyal, it is being a martyr and a yes man.

    I did not say to vote for Greg Abbott. Do you have any idea the crap I have said about Greg Abbott? Have you been under a rock or are not from around here?

    I’m not what’s hurting Wendy.

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  38. Thanks for all of the comments in this thread! This is a good one!

    @Zyxomma #27 Greetings, fellow NYer! I definitely think that our experience with Gillibrand is relevant to what Texans are seeing here with Wendy. Gillibrand on paper looked way too moderate for me and for other progressives, but once she got into the Senate, she showed herself to be one of the strongest progressive Senators. ICYMI, she just voted AGAINST the Farm Bill — along with Elizabeth Warren, to her credit — because it cut $9 Billion out of the Food Stamps program. Meanwhile, every other Dem Senator (or maybe Damn Senator) except for Warren and seven others voted FOR that bill. So, in spite of her stance on the gun ownership issue, Gillibrand proved herself to be quite an advocate for those causes you also mentioned, and I think Wendy is along those lines.

    @Karey Cummins #28 said: “I would rather trust Wendy Davis, who will undoubtedly want many safeguards in place, over Greg Abbott who will stand behind the party platform of wanting “constitutional” carry”. Yes, again, the analogy is to Gillibrand, although not directly since we don’t have the “open carry” issue here in NY, especially in NYC. In NYC, if you ask a random person how they feel about “open carry”, they will think you’re asking about carrying beverage containers in public without lids on them. haha 🙂

    @Teh Gerg #32 I was wondering the same thing: Is this something new with Wendy, or did she always say she had no problem with “open carry”? I have heard that she started out politically as a Republican and then changed parties somewhere along the line. If that’s the case, since she is reportedly a gun owner, then it wouldn’t surprise me if she had some conservative views on issues like guns. But again, Texas Dems have to decide if “open carry” is a make-or-break issue, and yeah — it would make a difference if she’s saying one thing now after saying something else before this. But I don’t know if she is. I don’t have that info either.

    @Elizabeth #34 said: “Am going to say that the stupidest thing Dems could do is not vote.” I totally agree. And in the Texas governor’s race, voting for a third party would really have an effect. If I were a Texan, even if I was disenchanted a bit with Wendy, I would never vote for a third party and throw the race to the Repubs. And for sure, I wouldn’t sit on my hands during this most critical election for Texas. Also, please try for one hot second to think like the right wing: They use their campaign donations to candidates as LEVERAGE rather than as approval of the candidates’ views or agenda. There is something to be said for that approach. I think us lefties tend to go for the candidate who mirrors our views in every possible way rather than seeing a flawed candidate and saying, “Well, if I donate to her campaign and vote for her, I will then have the right to ask her to reconsider her position on blah-blah because she is representing ME.” So, maybe vote for Wendy even if you hate the “open carry” part of her views, and when she is elected, say: “Hey, I voted for you because of healthcare and education, but uh … About that ‘open carry’ statement …” And get her to do what Gillibrand did: Put the gun license restrictions, background checks, and AWB high on her list of priorities going forward. If you vote, you have a voice. If you sit this one out, you have no one to blame but yourself if another fool wins the election.

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  39. Polite Kool Marxist says:

    Spot on, Juanita Jean! Wendy Davis needs to take control of her own campaign. She is the one who had the 2-3 missteps. Whether caused by staff issues or bad advice, she is the one who needs to own up to being the Democrat she led us to believe she would be.

    She came roaring out of the gate in this horse race, now has stumbled a bit. Her race, her decisions to support her supporters or not. The ball is in her court.

    If she won’t come to the World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon and make her case with us, she sure as heck needs to come down off Bulls*@t Mountain and square herself with you and those who have been giving her a boost.

    I’d like to see her do all three. Please, talk to us Wendy. We really are a fair crowd. We’d like to see Texas go BLUE. Can you do it?

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  40. I agree with JJ. My opinions have nothing to do with open carry. It has to do with the Davis campaign making one blunder after another. The task for Dems in Texas is hard enough. We have enough to overcome without the candidate throwing turds in the punch bowl.

    We live with folks who love John Cornyn and his idiot opponent, Rick Perry, Gohmert, and Tom Delay all day every day. They are our families, friends and neighbors.

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  41. I just hope that Wendy, or somebody in her campaign, has seen JJ’s remarks either here or on “Crooks and Liars” and takes this to heart.

    That campaign needs to understand that their “Amateur Hour” needs to cease this instant. Wendy isn’t going to have the kind of money that the GOP will throw into this race and she can’t afford to dismiss a single vote.

    If there are more knowledgeable or harder-working people in TX politics than JJ and Bubba, then she needs to find those folks and listen to them. Otherwise, help is right here in front of her face.

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  42. Judging by the # of comments there is great disagrement over this. In “Texas the Repubs have won using guns, God and gays. Carl Rove came up with this.
    By supporting open carry, this takes the issue off the stage.

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  43. Unless there is/are more smoking whatevers, I’ll probably, reluctantly, vote for wendy because abbott is the poster boy for soul-selling.
    Davis needs outside consultants like JJ in order to run things up the pole before executing moves. Too much like amateur hour at the corner ice house.

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  44. Mitey Mite says:

    The Republicans have pushed this country far to the right by demanding over and over that their Representative vote exactly the way they want on EVERY SINGLE VOTE. One misstep, and it’s time to be primaried by a more conservative candidate. I would hate to see Democrats fall into this same trap. I am much more interested in the reproductive rights of women and our ability to earn the same amount of money for the same job as a man does. When I prioritize the things that are important to me, open and/or concealed carry is not at the top of my list. Important, yes, but not a deal breaker. I implore all of you not to act like Republicans and turn your backs on Wendy because she disagrees (or says she does) with you on one issue. We can hold her feet to the fire AFTER we get her elected!

    BTW, Elvis had been dead and buried many years before Ann Richards won her statewide office. You may recall that the NRA poured millions into W’s efforts to defeat her after she vetoed a concealed carry bill. Maybe Wendy is a step ahead of us and is pre-emptively defusing the issue.

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  45. I suggest some political history.
    There have been a number of d candidates who have tried to “take an issue of the table” by taking the wing nut position and IT DOESN”T Work.

    Wingnuts will just sense weakness and go in for the kill ( politically) given a choice between a real r and a D pretending to be an R they will take the real one every time.

    In the meantime the D will alienate their supporters and the independents will wonder why bother if the D candidate showing such a proclivity to rolling over for the R’s.

    Case in point was Congresswoman Jolene Unseold of Washington in 1994 when whe tried to take the weapons issue “of the table” She lost a race everyone expected her to win against a proto tea bagger . She did not pick up any wing nuts and lost a lot of supporters and those that still voted for her cut back on their shoe leather support and financial donations.
    At the time it was reputed that this disaster was because she had listened to the DNC and had appointed an imported hired gun as her campaign manager.

    If we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.

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  46. I am not a Texan — I am from New York City — so I can’t tell Texans how to vote. However, if it was up to me, I would vote for Wendy in spite of the fact that I would NEVER support “open carry”. But as I’ve said in my previous comments, that issue is not even on the map for New Yorkers like it is for Texans, so my opinion is theoretical. I don’t think that would be a deal breaker because I do like Wendy’s positions on “bread-and-butter” issues like equal pay, expanded healthcare, education, etc. The only question I still have is one that has been asked before in this thread by myself and at least one other Beauty Salon customer: Has this been Wendy’s position all along? Has she always supported “open carry”? This is to me a very important question because it really does show the difference between someone who genuinely believes that this is in the best interest of her constituents, and someone who is “pandering” to try to pick up right-wing votes. Pandering will get her nowhere, but if she really has held this belief all along, it is better IMO for her to get that out of the way now and then move past that to the issues that are truly important to her Democratic base.

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