Wendy Davis is throwing the Hail Mary in February

Wendy Davis's campaign decision to support open-carry will likely be one of the strangest decisions of the entire 2014 campaign cycle.

Wendy Davis has a long history of being anti-gun. As a city councilwoman in 2000, she proposed banning gun shows from the Fort Worth Convention Center and wanted the federal government to pass more gun control. During her first term in the Texas legislature, she voted against campus carry. The Texas State Rifle Association gives her a D grade, and the NRA gives her an F.

But Wendy Davis's campaign has been flailing about for weeks now, having alienated the press in her attempt to change the topic of conversation away from her many biographical exaggerations. Plus she faces the grim reality that she is a left-winger running in a right-of-center state.

What to do?

Apparently the best thing they could come up with on short notice was open carry. Anything to change the conversation, even at the very substantial risk of alienating her base.

You'd think they would have tried to find something that a swing voter could find believable. Nobody thinks that Wendy Davis actually supports open carry, given her record.

'Davis position is pragmatic. GovAnnRichards, vetoed concealed handgun, but George W. Bush made it major issue & defeated her.' #UniteBlue

— Turn Texas Blue (@UniteBlueTX) February 6, 2014

Will grassroots liberals will lose their enthusiasm? If you check Twitter, you can find people asking for their campaign donations back and other "progressives" saying that Wendy has lost their vote.

@WendyDavisTexas you just lost my support with your #opencarry stance. I want my donation back! #disappointed #gunsense

— courtney baron (@ernestthedog) February 6, 2014

Furthermore, are the rich liberals in San Francisco and New York City going to continue to fund a campaign that looks rudderless AND supports open carry? I'll wager she lost the possibility of any multi-million dollar Bloomberg ad blitz on her behalf.

This is a very strange decision from the Wendy Davis campaign. Not many campaigns feel like they have to throw a Hail Mary in February. And Wendy Davis sure doesn't look like Doug Flutie.

Posted by Evan @ 02/06/14 09:08 PM

Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry

Comments

Add Comments

No flames or impolite behavior. HTML will be stripped. URLs will be transformed into hyperlinks.

Your comment: Name: Website: E-mail:

Enter the string of characters appearing in the picture: Remember Me