Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Castros as attack dogs for Wendy Davis

My response to this development Friday morning is going to be somewhat more politically incorrect than my usual.  (Hard to believe, I realize...)


This is precisely what both Castro brothers are going to need to do to provide a proper assist to Wendy Davis' gubernatorial prospects.

Harvey Kronberg has already written about the nationalizing of the statewide elections, and that if Greg Abbott is going to run against Barack Obama, Wendy should campaign against Ted.  Since Congressman Joaquin and Mayor Julian were too cautious to take the 2014 plunge themselves, they must now be at the forefront of the attack on the Poop Cruz travelers.  And there should perhaps be a racial component to it (at least as a whisper campaign).  I decried that tactic when Gilberto Hinojosa did it last year, but the only truth in this race is that Democrats who really want to win had better be strong enough to fight fire with fire.  The Barbie crap simply cannot go unanswered.

The Castros have to speak with conviction to the Eddie Lucios among Latino Democrats, and they must directly address the concerns of those whose reticence will be heightened because of the millions of dollars Abbott will pump into Spanish language media.

Without collecting another dime, Abbott's already got enough money to spend two million bucks a month between now and November 2014.  If history serves as a guide, he's going to pour it on in TV ads at the end, as he did in 2006 when he ran against David Van Os, and in 2010 against Barbara Radnofsky.

This skirmish is one of the small but numerous critical components to the success of Davis and other Texas Democrats on the ballot: the Castro brothers and all Latino electeds -- not just prospective LG candidate Leticia Van de Putte, or Sen. Sylvia Garcia, but the titular heads of that caucus -- have to reinforce and grow the Democratic Latino base in the face of these gathering headwinds, and they cannot be shy about going on the offensive when it is needed.

And if the Castros -- or anybody else -- choose to half-ass that effort, i.e. fail to fight back, there ought to be plenty of Democrats who remember that when it's their turn to run.

Let's give Joaquin credit for a good start and expect to see more like this.

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