Not too long ago – just over a year, in fact – Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis was a rising star. Now, she’s a “bum steer.”
In August 2013, she graced the cover of Texas Monthly, holding her iconic pink tennis shoes with the words “game on” centered on the page just below her folded arms, a look of determination on her face. The magazine called her a “serious long shot” at the time, but nevertheless idolized her.
Flash forward to Dec. 10, 2014, when the same magazine announced the winner of its “Bum Steer” award. Suddenly, those pink tennis shoes aren’t held as part of a defiant stance, but are stepping in cow dung. What was a resolute look is now an illustrated cartoon grimace as she looks at what is on her shoe. Standing in a pasture, one bull gives her the side eye while another looks at her hair as if it might be hay.
“[N]othing, and we mean nothing, could match the train wreck that was Wendy Davis, Battleground Texas and the Democrats,” TM wrote of its decision to name Davis Bum Steer of the Year.
TM asked if anyone thought that even with all the national exposure and money Davis received if she would perform so poorly.
“It’s not that the Democrats underperformed,” TM wrote. “It’s that the party that hasn’t won a statewide race since 1994 actually dug itself an even deeper hole!”
And it’s true. Davis did so poorly she actually made Texas redder than it has been since 1998, when George W. Bush faced only token opposition for re-election. Her performance wasn’t just rated as poor, it was rated as “unusually” poor even for Texas Democrats.
At this point, it looks like Davis’ campaign will be a lesson in how not to run for governor in Texas.
h/t Mediaite
