Tag Archives: 2014 Texas elections

Texas Politics

Greg Abbott’s ‘Debate And Switch’

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In early 2013, months before the HB2 filibuster, and before anyone was seriously contemplating the possibility of a strong Democratic ticket in Texas, I sat down with Lane Lewis, chair of the Harris County Democratic Party for an interview.  One of the things he said was regarding how to turn Texas blue…

Texas is going to turn blue, but it is not going to be an event. It’s going to be a process.

As we enter the Fall of 2014, it’s becoming clear that Mr. Lewis is absolutely correct.  Election nights are what make the headlines, and what go in the history books.  But those events are merely the sum total of an entire process… knocking on doors, making calls, contributing a few dollars here and there, fleshing out major issues, and solid use of the press. All of these things are the process by which Texas becomes a battleground state, and all of them are happening right now. After enduring years of weak candidates, Republican posers running on the Democratic ticket, gross campaign mismanagement and misdirection, Texas Democrats are getting their act together, and much faster than anyone thought they could. As a result of this process, Texans are realizing that we finally have a real choice in 2014.

On Friday, the Democrats were handed a test of their burgeoning strength when Republican Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott announced that after originally agreeing to debate his Democratic opponent Wendy Davis, he decided to cancel the event due to “formatting issues”. This is after both gubernatorial campaigns had set up the debate on May 28th.

With the Texas Democratic Party of yesteryear, this simple cop-out would’ve worked.  After all, Governor Rick Perry got away with no debates in 2010, only to deliver a Texas-sized embarrassment on the national stage the next year.

But Greg Abbott is not so lucky.  Within minutes of his pathetic reversal, blow back from the Davis campaign, the Texas Democratic Party, Battleground Texas, and a slew of other groups was swift and insurmountable.

Once they realized that Texas wouldn’t stand for such a lame excuse, Abbott’s camp quickly fabricated a new plan… weasel out of the WFAA event (because it was sure to be televised across the state on major media outlets), and instead offer up an alternative on another area station in the hopes of dramatically decreasing viewer exposure. Doing so a month beforehand leaves TV stations scrambling to commit to even carry the event instead of their scheduled programs, and of course ruins all the pre-planned advertising for stations that have been committed since May. Yes folks… Greg Abbott is trying to pull the ole ‘Debate and Switch’.

Just so we’re clear… Abbott does not want a debate with Wendy Davis at all.  If the current trickery doesn’t work, there is no doubt that he and his campaign will concoct some other last-minute stunt.  To put it simply, Abbott is afraid.  Probably not afraid of Wendy herself, and given that he’s been a statewide elected official for a decade, he’s certainly not afraid of politics.  What Abbott is afraid of is that Texans will learn the truth about the him and his TEApublican colleagues.  He is afraid of having to answer the questions that Wendy is going to ask.  How is he going to go on camera in front of millions of Texans, tout the “Texas miracle” and simultaneously justify draconian cuts to education? What will be a “miracle” is if Texans don’t see through the lies.

Abbott’s ‘Debate and Switch’ may hinder an event or two, but it cannot stop the swing state process.  If anything, these tricks should serve as encouragement that the process is working faster and better than most would have previously imagined. Texas Republicans are in for some big surprises this November, and unlike Greg Abbott, that fact is not up for debate.

Off the Kuff and Brains and Eggs have more.

 

Texas Politics

Davis BLASTS Abbott For Shrouding Dangerous Chemical Locales

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Texas Attorney General Greg Just “Drive Around” Abbott may have ceded some serious ground to State Senator Wendy Davis in the race for Governor, as the Fort Worth Democrat is hitting back against his seedy decision to keep dangerous chemical stockpiles secret from citizens.  Here’s the scoop from Bill Hanna of the Fort Worth Star Telegram…

FORT WORTH — Kicking off a weeklong trip around Texas on Tuesday, state Sen. Wendy Davis continued to attack her GOP opponent in the governor’s race, Attorney General Greg Abbott, for blocking release of information about where hazardous chemicals are stored.

Davis, D-Fort Worth, is criticizing an attorney general’s opinion that says the Texas Department of State Health Services doesn’t have to release information about reports that show where dangerous chemicals are stored statewide.

The public’s right to know where hazardous chemicals are stored has become an issue since the April 17, 2013, explosion that killed 15 people at the fertlizer plant in West.

“Greg Abbott is obviously doing everything he can to try to undo a mess he has made,” Davis said. “But let’s make no mistake about it: What Greg Abbott has ruled is that families do not deserve to know where these dangerous chemicals are stored.”

In a statement released before Davis’ appearance, the Abbott campaign said he was simply applying the law.

“Greg Abbott did not change any law or policy, he applied the Texas Homeland Security Act, which prevents state agencies from releasing information that could be used by terrorists to build bombs or to target certain facilities,” the Abbott campaign said.

Before the ruling, the state health agency released the information regularly. Davis noted that other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, make the information available.

If she is elected governor, Davis said, she would make the disclosure of dangerous chemicals an emergency legislative item that must be addressed in the first 60 days of the 2015 session.

“The community has a right to know about where these dangerous chemicals are stored,” Davis said. “And for decades, even after the passage of that particular law, Greg Abbott continued to stand for transparency but he has reversed course on that. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the connection between his course reversal.”

Davis was referring to donations of more than $75,000 to Abbot’s campaign from interests connected to Koch Industries.

The Koch brothers, Charles and David, have developed fundraising networks that back Republican candidates and are expected to spend millions to help Republicans reclaim control of the U.S. Senate. Koch Industries has a fertilizer division, Koch Fertilizer LLC.

“Mr. Abbott is not working for you,” Davis said.

Abbott has been under intense criticism as of late, both for the decision, and some unfortunate comments he made when questioned by the media about why Texas don’t deserve to know what dangers are in their neighborhood.  Here’s that piece of the puzzle from the Texas Tribune…

Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, under fire for blocking public access to state records documenting the location of dangerous chemicals, said Texans still have a right to find out where the substances are stored — as long as they know which companies to ask.

“You know where they are if you drive around,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday. “You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well, we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.”

No one knows for sure why Greg Just “Drive Around” Abbott suddenly became so obsessed with the Texas Homeland Security Act that he had to issue a ridiculously narrow ruling and keep millions of Texans in the dark.  But as Rachel Maddow implied last night on her program, the timing of this decision seems all too convenient to a recent meeting between Abbott and Chase Koch, heir apparent to Koch Industries.

Davis is spot on to attack Abbott for such an atrocious ruling.  With chemical and materials industries being such a huge part of the Texas economy, there’s no telling how many millions of people are potentially at risk of an explosion like the one in the town of West.  Reading directly from Greg Just “Drive Around” Abbott’s website, you’d think he shares the belief that all Texans deserve transparency in their government…

An open government is the bedrock of a free society. For decades, Texas has had some of the strongest open government laws in the nation – laws ensure that Texans can know what their government is doing and how their government makes the decisions that affect their lives.

If Abbott in fact believes it, then he better start practicing what he preaches.  Otherwise, that talking point is going to explode all over his hypocritical face.

But when it does, I’ll be happy to drive around with him and search for answers.

(photo credit:  Burnt Orange Report)

 

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/08/5956540/davis-attacks-abbott-for-blocking.html#storylink=cpy

 

Politics

Rick Perry: Homosexuality Is Like Alcoholism

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If anyone thought that Texas Governor Rick Perry might try to keep quiet between now in a possible 2016 run, think again.  He came out spreading falsehoods about homosexuality and the development of sexual orientation.  Here’s more from CNN…

A comparison between alcoholism and homosexuality by Texas Gov. Rick Perry is raising eyebrows.

At a speech in San Francisco, the longtime Republican governor – who ran for the White House in 2012 and is considering another bid in 2016 – was asked whether he thought homosexuality was a disorder.

“I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that – and I look at the homosexual issue the same way,” Perry said.

According to CNN affiliate KPIX, some people in the pro-Perry audience gasped when they heard the governor’s remarks.

Perry’s address to the Commonwealth of California Club was mostly focused on economic issues. The Texas governor is in California as part of a trip to try to bring jobs and business to the Lone Star State.

Perry’s comments also came just days after Texas Republicans, meeting at their state convention, approved language in their party platform that includes support for voluntary psychological “therapy” targeted at converting homosexuals to heterosexuals. That stance stands in contrast to both California and New Jersey, which have banned such therapy.

Whatever Mr. Perry’s particular internal vices, he’s clearly behind the times on understanding sexual orientation.  And though he obviously has the right to believe whatever he wants as a private citizen, it’s important to know that saying these things in his official capacity as Governor is harmful to thousands of his constituents.  Many young Texans are taking the journey to adulthood as we all do, and for those that are LGBT, they may be struggling to figure out why they don’t match society’s well-defined expectations.  Suggesting to those young people that they need to “repair” themselves isn’t just wrong… it is downright dangerous.

In relation to current Texas politics, it’s no surprise that Perry’s comments sent a scurry through both main political parties, especially the candidates for the Governor’s job.  As Lone Star Q reports, Perry has helped to reveal another stark contrast between GOP contender Greg Abbott and his Democratic opponent Wendy Davis…

Democrat Wendy Davis would support and sign a law banning reparative therapy for minors, according to a spokesman for her campaign.

But Davis’ Republican opponent in the Texas governor’s race, Attorney General Greg Abbott, isn’t taking a position on the issue.

At its state convention in Fort Worth last week, the Texas GOP amended its platform to include support for reparative therapy “for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle.”

In response to the headline-grabbing plank, a spokesman for Davis’ campaign confirmed this week in an email to Lone Star Q that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee would back a statewide ban on reparative therapy for minors similar to laws that have passed in California and New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Abbott dodged a question about his party’s support for reparative therapy during a visit to East Texas on Wednesday. KYTX Channel 19 reports that Abbott “stopped short of condemning” the reparative therapy plank but said the issue isn’t near the top of his agenda.

“First is jobs, second is schools, three is roads, transportation and water, and four is making sure our border is secure,” Abbott told KYTX reporter Field Sutton.

“It sounds like reparative therapy is pretty far down on that list,” Sutton said.

“Well, if government does what it’s supposed to do, and then gets out of people’s way, everyone is a whole lot happier,” Abbott responded.

Try as he may, Abbott won’t be able to run from this question much longer.  It’s going to keep coming up in interviews and other public formats.  But the real worry for the Abbott campaign here is this… regardless of what delegates at the Republican Party convention vote for, the state of Texas is still moving at lightning speed in support of LGBT rights and marriage equality.  As we see here, the GOP is providing the ammo… but it’s up to Democrats to make sure these shameful messages get out to the public at large.  If more people knew that the only thing standing in the way of marriage for thousands of Texas’ LGBT couples was Greg Abbott’s emergency stay, maybe they would be motivated to show up for Davis in November.  From a “life” standpoint, it is right for Democrats to stand against these harmful views.  From a political standpoint, this is an issue that can motivate Davis’ base, depress GOP turnout, and really effect the outcome of the election.  Let’s hope that the campaigns and Battleground Texas figure that out.

For more on this topic, check out the great work of fellow bloggers Texpatriate and Off the Kuff.  I’ll probably have later thoughts and developments as well.