Over the last two years, the Democrats invested millions in turning Texas blue, but it did not work at all.
The party nominated Wendy Davis for governor, and that was a disaster all around.
The party is "running on empty," as Wayne Slater explained:
If the general election were a battle, for Democrats it was the Alamo. Everybody died.
The problem is not only that they lost, but also that their brassy yearlong pledge to turn Texas blue has suffered such a setback.
Wendy Davis did no better among women than Democrat Bill White in the governor’s race four years ago, and she did worse among Hispanics.
In the end, Davis trailed Republican victor Greg Abbott by 20 points. No Democrat has finished so far behind since 1998, a blowout in which popular incumbent George W. Bush swamped Garry Mauro.
“The national headwind was a lot to run against in a red state,” said Glenn Smith of the Progress Texas PAC, a Davis ally. “Wendy was going to have to throw a perfect game to even get close, and she didn’t throw a perfect game.”
For Davis and the rest of the Democratic statewide slate, the obstacles proved too difficult to overcome.
Among them: President Barack Obama’s unpopularity and the failure of the organizing group Battleground Texas to boost turnout. They also faced an aggressive Abbott campaign to keep white voters, make inroads among Hispanics and dissuade moderate women voters from backing Davis."
Actually, she did not need a perfect game. She had to get out of the first inning and did not.
Let's look at some of the reasons that the Democrats failed so miserably:
1) Yes, President Obama is unpopular here, but that does not explain everything.
2) The chief problem was nominating a woman for governor who earned a national reputation defending abortion after 20 weeks as some kind of a right or part of health care. That did not play well here, and Mr. Abbott ended up winning women, as Mr. Slater mentioned.
In the end, Wendy Davis was only known as "the abortion lady." She had no legislative record of consequence or any executive experience worth talking about.
Add to that all of the confusion about her life story, and her candidacy was doomed months ago.
Yes, she was beaten very badly, and that hurt the ticket right down the line.
The Democrats will have to go back and reinvent themselves. They need someone who can talk to white men. They also need to push back the leftist groups who've taken over the party that gave us President Johnson and Senator Bentsen.
P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
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