Hey, sorry, I didn't want you to think I was falling down on the job with the "New York Times discovers Wendy Davis" story-story. Remember I did catch you up Friday.
See also: Wendy Davis Is Sort of a Laura Miller Candidate. So How Did that Work Out?
I reminded you The New York Times had discovered the Texas Democratic Party's Great Blonde Hope on August 10 in a big piece called "Democrats look to Wendy Davis as the charm." Then the Times discovered her again three days later in a big piece called "Democrats put hope in Texas star."
Last Friday The New York Times discovered Wendy Davis again in a big piece called, "Democrats see value in Texas in candidacy for governor." And we talked about that already, right?
But the thing is, the very next day after we talked, on Saturday, The New York Times discovered Wendy Davis again in a big piece called "Spotlight on Wendy Davis, the Democrats' big hope," with a huge beautiful picture of her in the capitol rotunda thronged by people holding up their cell phone cameras as if in worship and a perfect halo of light shining just right on her face alone that really happened and was not Photoshopped at all.
I was awestruck. I am a Wendy Davis worshiper myself. Really. When she stood up in the Senate chamber and filibustered Lieutenant Governor David "Let My Family Go!" Dewhurst (what a dweeb), I was ecstatic. Oh, yeah, I am sorry, I forgot to mention, The New York Times discovered her then, too, in a big piece called, "In Texas, a senator's stand catches the spotlight." And, you know what, maybe the spotlight they're talking about is what caused that halo that was not Photoshopped.
I wanted to make sure you knew about the latest New York Times discovery Saturday, the day after the one I did tell you about on Friday. Also, would you do me a huge solid? Do you mind? Would you not read to the end of the one Saturday? And would you not mention the story Saturday to any Republicans? Normally we don't have to worry about Republicans reading The New York Times, but, you know how they are when they're on a mission. They might hold their noses.
You can read the top of the piece Saturday -- it's super-sweet -- and certainly you will want to see the halo picture that was not Photoshopped. But it might be better if you stopped right about there.
The first page of the story Saturday is all about how she's visiting her sick dad in the hospital even though he ditched her as a kid, and there's recap of her other struggles when she was young, in case we forgot those from the day before. It's ... uh, well ... it's the second page, way down at the bottom of the story where there might be problems.
I did not know -- did you? -- that when Ms. Davis was on the Fort Worth City Council she fought city unions to force them to eat cutbacks on their pensions. She also voted against tax relief for the elderly.
I know she is often described as a candidate who can bridge party lines. But some traditional Democrats might view stiffing pensioners and old people more like abandoning party lines, which brings up another issue. Did you know she voted in Republican primaries in 1996, 1998 and 2006? No, me neither.
OK, forget that. But I also did not know -- why would I? -- that she gets most of her money from the Fort Worth billionaire Bass family, like two hundred grand in two years from Sid Bass alone. Hey, nothing wrong with Sid Bass. He's a very civic-minded and philanthropic man. But, you know, two hundred large in two years from the Basses: That ain't populism, is it?
Did you know she that she's a law partner with Rick Perry's former chief of staff who is a registered lobbyist and that her law firm represents public entities including the North Texas Tollway Authority? Oh, you did? Cool. No prob, eh?
And why would I not want Republicans to know all that stuff? Oh, no, no, that's not the part I think we need to keep away from the Republicans. That's the stuff I didn't want to know myself. The part I don't want the Republicans to notice is that in her second divorce, she did not receive custody of her children. Her ex-husband did.
I believe that is strictly her business, and it does not affect my opinion of her one bit, but I do think those damned Republicans will find a way to make some hay with it if she runs for governor. So, let's keep that one under our caps, OK?
Note to The New York Times: This is Texas, and we do have a certain worldview and culture and all like that, and we do go along with a lot of stuff, especially if it's Biblical, but for right now I would strongly, strongly advise against any un-Photoshopped pictures of Wendy Davis walking on water or descending from on high on a beam of light. Just not yet. See if you can make yourselves wait a couple weeks for those.
