One year ago today, Texas state Rep. Wendy Davis galvanized the progressive movement by leading an
11-hour filibuster, derailing (temporarily) passage of one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the nation. From a year ago:
Davis started her run at 11:20 a.m., laying out her plans to Senate colleagues:
“Members I’m rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of Texans who have been ignored. These voices have been silenced by a governor who made blind partisanship and personal political ambition the official business of our great state."
In the end:
Fort Worth Democrat Wendy Davis started it. A raucous, roaring crowd of spectators finished it. And when the dust finally cleared about 3 a.m., Texas Republicans admitted it: One of the strictest anti-abortion bills in the nation didn't get the required Senate vote by a midnight deadline.
A special session called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry took care of that, but the damage was done and a
governor's campaign launched. Markos
said last fall that this was going to be a tough one: "This is Texas, after all, the state with the lowest voter participation in the country, and you know who those non-voters are: young voters (only Utah has a lower median age than Texas), Latinos, Asians, African Americans, single women ... the very people that Democrats depend on to win."
It is proving tough. Republican Greg Abbot has a 12-point lead in the latest polling. But the undecideds are growing, up to 17 percent in this poll. It's the undecideds—and the non-voters—who hold the key. They need to be energized, like they were a year ago.
What got the attention of the political people—the professionals and the people who put on orange or blue T-shirts to support or oppose the legislation — was the energy. It wasn’t that the Democrats lost a fight everyone expected them to lose, but that they turned out for the fight the way they did, in both the real and virtual worlds.
So today, the Davis team is holding a
filibuster anniversary event, reminding folks how this all started and bringing back the energy that brought Democrats out. It was empowering and can be again. Democrats can take Texas away from the GOP, and as Markos says, "if we take away Texas from the GOP, they'll have nothing of consequence left."
So let's do it. Please give $3 to stand with Wendy.