Texas State Senator Wendy Davis visited the Today show Wednesday morning to sit down with Maria Shriver, fresh off the journalist’s unveiling of the latest gender-baiting “Shriver Report,” to discuss her unique success story that led her to the race to become the Lone Star State’s next governor. When Shriver asked Davis "what difference it will make" if she won in the overwhelmingly red state, the latter provided another slap in the face to the state she supposedly wants to lead:
“I hope people will feel more welcome here. They’ll feel like that’s not an unusual occurrence for their voices to matter.”
Presumably, Davis was referring to the state’s conservative overtones that make it difficult for pro-choice activists to be heard. After all, late-term abortion was the subject of her 11-hour filibuster in June. Davis’s seeming distaste for her own state is also apparent in her neglect of it, often choosing to campaign in more liberal states like New York.
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Nonetheless, the Today show made it more or less clear they’re on Team Wendy with their glowing profile on her. Here was Shriver’s introduction:
“Wendy Davis became a familiar name last year when she stood in her pink tennis shoes for 11 hours to defeat a Texas abortion bill. Even though the bill eventually passed, Davis became a star and her story, her personal story resonated across this country.”
Pan to the two of them in a sit-down interview, where Davis insisted: “I’m not an overnight sensation. I’m a Texan and I’m a Texas success story. I am the epitome of hard work and optimism.”
Then Shriver and Davis traveled back to the trailer park in which she used to live as a teenage mom making ends meet. Davis, eager to get an education, applied and got accepted to the prestigious Harvard Law School. Her success story is certainly admirable and Shriver said as much:
“Her story is an example what a strong education can offer young women and men everywhere.”
But, Shriver missed the point as to why Davis’s story is so inspiring. The state senator proved that a young woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy can give her child life and still have an incredible career.
Texans, who are overwhelmingly pro-life, no doubt believe this. Perhaps that’s why Battleground Texas, a Democratic grassroots organization, continues to avoid using the word ‘abortion’ in their emails to supporters:
“Wendy Davis is a fighter. She overcame a life of poverty and personal struggles to get accepted to Harvard Law and become a state senator. Then last summer, she knocked our socks off with a bold stand for Texas women's right to get the health care they need.”
It’s always “health care,” not abortion.
The Texas Tribune’s Evan Smith told Shriver that Davis’s pro-abortion agenda isn’t exactly a winning issue in the conservative state:
“That’s celebrity outside is great, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into votes.”
So, Davis can raise as much as she wants in New York, but money doesn’t mean votes.
Davis has made it clear that, if she’s elected governor, the “voices that won’t matter” may be those of unborn babies.