Wendy Davis Filibuster Heroic, Ted Cruz Filibuster Hopeless?

Wendy Davis became a national media celebrity overnight when she filibustered an abortion bill in the Texas senate for about 11 hours.

The pro-choice Democrat state senator is reportedly going to run for governor and will face off against GOP candidate Gregg Abbott, currently the state’s attorney general. Incumbent Gov. Rick Perry decided against running for reelection.

The bill that Wendy Davis spoke at length against, which bans abortions in Texas after 20 weeks, became law in Texas anyway a few days later when it passed the legislature in a special session.

When US Sen. Ted Cruz (R – Tex.) spoke for 21 hours this week in a long-shot attempt to defund Obamacare, he was widely mocked by most of the media and even scorned by some members of his own party.

Several journalists noticed this differential in news media coverage of the two Texas lawmakers, including Dylan Byers of Politico:

“When a Democrat like Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis filibusters against abortion restrictions, she is elevated to hero status, her tennis shoes become totems. When Cruz grandstands against Obamacare, he is a laughingstock in the eyes of many journalists on Twitter, an ’embarrassment’ in the eyes of The New York Times editorial board… After Davis’s filibuster in June, she got a glowing Vogue profile and was interviewed by nearly every major network and show that deemed her the new superstar from the Lone Star.”

Along similar lines, Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner noted that “The typical mainstream spin on [the Cruz filibuster]: It’s grandstanding! He’s just raising money! Fauxlibuster!… Davis’s filibuster was no more likely than Cruz’s to change the law. Davis’s filibuster was just as self-promotional as Cruz’s, and just as directed at a bid for higher office. The difference? I assume it’s this: The media generally supports legalized abortion while the media generally like Obamacare.”

Davis’ gubernatorial run will likely benefit from the disproportionate media spotlight, and there is always an opportunity for a front-running GOP candidate to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with off-the-wall comments which has happened in several recent election cycles. No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in about 20 years.

Even according to the liberal New Republic, however, Davis doesn’t stand a chance of being elected next time barring unforeseen circumstances. “Absent a catastrophically bad Republican candidate there isn’t a pathway to victory for progressive Texas Democrats, at least not yet.”

Several recent opinion polls indicate that Texas voters appear to approve of the ban on late-term abortions.