Election night saw a euphoric wave of Republican victory after Republican victory, a satisfying turn of events after an incredibly disappointing two years since Obama won re-election. Here is a little tidbit from the elections that might have escaped national scrutiny, but could amount to one of the most satisfying moments in politics – especially if you are a supporter of pro-life causes.
Wendy Davis, the Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Texas, became famous for an 11-hour filibuster in which she argued a woman’s right to late-term abortions. The filibuster propelled her status in liberal spheres, so much so that her ascendancy toward the governorship was thought to be inevitable.
Davis lost to Republican Greg Abbott on Tuesday, by over 20 points.
Not only was Davis’ loss a catastrophic string of missteps – from tweeting out photos of college Republicans and pretending they were her supporters, to running ads mocking an accident that left her opponent in a wheel chair – but she had to give up her seat in the Texas Senate in order to mount a campaign.
And here is where the irony comes into play. Davis – who had become known as “Abortion Barbie” for her single-platform efforts – had her seat captured by a pro-life Tea Party activist named Konni Burton.
Via the National Review (H/T: Weasel Zippers):
… what is ultimately refreshing about Tuesday’s results in the Lone Star State is not simply that a bad candidate lost; rather, what lost were the extravagant efforts by national Democrats and a left-wing media complex to champion as the bold new face of their party a candidate who insisted that Texas was one Republican governor away from segregated water fountains and Hobby Lobby goon-squads policing women’s uteruses.
If Democrats want to peddle that shtick successfully, they should stick to San Francisco.
One last tidbit: Davis’s former Texas senate seat, which she gave up to run for governor? It now belongs to Republican Konni Burton. She is a tea-partier, and pro-life.
Indeed, Burton ran on a particular policy issue called the Sanctity of Life. Her campaign website states:
The defense of the unborn is very personal for me. My husband Phil and I are the proud parents of Tori and Faith, whom we adopted through the Gladney Center in Fort Worth. This session I was proud to join thousands of conservative activists in peacefully supporting pro-life bills in the Texas Legislature. The people of Senate District 10 deserve a Senator who respects all human life. In the Senate, I will fight to keep Texas tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood or any organization that provides abortions. I will also oppose any federal incursions into Texas designed to mandate that citizens purchase healthcare covering elective abortions.
Burton, who values the life of yet-born children, now fills the seat vacated by a woman made famous for arguing the right to terminate that child’s life.
To quote Jeff Goldblum in the movie Jurassic Park …