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Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 02:39 PM Jan 2014

Opposition research on Wendy Davis is being released

The GOP opposition researchers are trying to poke holes in Wendy Davis' life story and the details that she got wrong are not significant. The date of her actual divorce is when the paperwork was finalized and not when she was separated from her first husband. Does it make any difference when the divorce became final when the point of the story was that she was a single parent at the time of her separation from her first husband?

As to some of the other details, Wendy's second ex-husband and her father are defending her http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wendy_davis_admits_fudged_facts_in_bio

Jeff Davis said paying for part of his ex-wife's education wasn't a "big deal," and told the Morning News that her past financial struggles were real.

“A lot of what she says is true,” he told the newspaper. “When she was 21, it became a little easier for her. The first 21 years were about working one, two and three jobs, trying to get through, raising a kid, driving an old Toyota pickup truck that was the smallest you could find."

Davis' father, Jerry Russell, also defended his daughter's successes in an October interview with Texas Monthly.

"She is who she is, I promise you that," Russell said. "The whole situation with the mother working at Braum’s--that’s all true."


I have given money to the Davis campaign as well as to Battleground Texas and I plan to continue to make contributions to these campaigns. Nothing in this story has changed my mind.

The fact that the Abbott team is trying to make a big deal of this crap tells me that they are worried.
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Opposition research on Wendy Davis is being released (Original Post) Gothmog Jan 2014 OP
what the public is not going to like are the details of Abbott's personal injury settlement stg81 Jan 2014 #1
Yep. PDittie Jan 2014 #4
Are you coming to the Fort Bend event on Friday? Gothmog Jan 2014 #6
Efforting to do so. PDittie Jan 2014 #8
Here is a statement from Annie's list on this attack on Wendy Gothmog Jan 2014 #7
Nit-picky crap. Abbott must be running scared. nt SunSeeker Jan 2014 #2
what women are up against when they run for office! homegirl Jan 2014 #3
Wendy is releasing a revised bio that clarifies these claims Gothmog Jan 2014 #5

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
7. Here is a statement from Annie's list on this attack on Wendy
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 08:42 PM
Jan 2014

I have given money to Annie's List. Here is a statement from an e-mail that I received this afternoon http://annieslist.com/2014/01/20/annies-list-executive-director-responds-to-attacks-on-wendy-davis-personal-story/

Annie’s List Executive Director Grace Garcia Responds to Attacks on Wendy Davis’ Personal Story

Today, Annie’s List Executive Director Grace Garcia released the following statement in response to recent attacks on Wendy Davis’ personal story.
“We’re not surprised Republicans have attempted to undermine Wendy Davis’ campaign by calling her past into question – we have seen similar attacks launched against women candidates before. The recent personal attacks on Wendy Davis and her family are blatant attempts to thwart her campaign and undermine her success. Just last week, the Davis campaign announced impressive fundraising numbers from donors in every county in Texas. Greg Abbott is running scared and for good reason. Senator Davis’ personal story is a compelling narrative of perseverance and hard work that millions of Texans have responded to. It is appalling that Republicans would attack the details of that story rather than focus on the issues affecting Texas families.

“Disputing the details of Wendy Davis’ life is especially offensive to the many Texas women who can relate to her story. In trying to tear down Senator Davis’ campaign and her personal story, Republicans are also tearing down all Texans who have overcome difficult circumstances. It’s clear Greg Abbott doesn’t understand Wendy Davis’ struggles and the struggles of millions of Texans, nor does he want to.”

homegirl

(1,419 posts)
3. what women are up against when they run for office!
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 05:27 PM
Jan 2014

“They’re gonna dig dirt up about you,” Blair says. “And with women, if you’ve done anything wrong ever, it’s gonna come out. Whereas men could do that in college and it’d be fine, with women that shit would come up and they’d be put through the ringer.”

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
5. Wendy is releasing a revised bio that clarifies these claims
Mon Jan 20, 2014, 08:06 PM
Jan 2014
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/20/wendy-davis-fights-sexist-attacks-dignified-truth-bomb.html
This is so embarrassing for Republicans, who’ve taken to attacking Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis (TX) on whether or not she was technically divorced at the age of 19 when living alone in a trailer with her daughter.

Apparently the Texas Republicans haven’t met Wendy Davis yet. Wendy Davis is a fighter for all people, and she isn’t about to let a few cheap shots at her family or her personal struggles take her down. State Senator Wendy Davis issued a statement today, saying in part, “The truth is that at age 19, I was a teenage mother living alone with my daughter in a trailer and struggling to keep us afloat on my way to a divorce… I am proud of where I came from and I am proud of what I’ve been able to achieve through hard work and perseverance. And I guarantee you that anyone who tries to say otherwise hasn’t walked a day in my shoes.”

Conservatives were claiming that Davis lied about her status at the age of 19 because she wasn’t technically divorced yet and thus couldn’t possibly be a single mother (don’t ask), but as I explained earlier, before the divorce one gets the separation and before the separation, one gets the unraveling of the relationship which often impacts the living situation. Then there is the time spent after filing for divorce. Welcome to reality.

Here is the revised bio for Wendy Davis:

Wendy Davis Early Biography

- Wendy Davis’ parents separated for the final time when she was 11, and they were divorced by the time she was 13 years old. Even though the divorce settlement called for child support, Wendy’s father was not able to provide significant income for the family.

- Wendy and her siblings were raised primarily by her mother, who had attended school only into the ninth grade, and whose own father had only a sixth grade education.

- Wendy’s mother worked at a Braum’s ice cream store to support the family. Wendy started working at age 14 to join her siblings in the support of the family.

- Despite the financial struggles at home, Wendy was a good student and attempted to attend to college after graduating high school. She was unable, however, to make ends meet economically, and left believing that a college education was just not available to her.

- Wendy left home at 17, married when she was 18 and had her first daughter Amber when she was 19. She and her husband lived in a trailer, and Wendy continued to live there with Amber after they were separated. As a single mother at age 19, she often struggled to make ends meet. Wendy filed for divorce when she was 20 and she and Amber lived for a short time with her mother. The divorce became final when she was 21.

- After learning about flexible class options from a Tarrant County College brochure, Wendy discovered that she could get back into college. She moved into an apartment with Amber and began attending classes while working multiple jobs.

- Tarrant County College gave her a gateway to higher education. She excelled in classes as she worked hard. She did well enough to get into Texas Christian University, which she attended with the help of financial aid and scholarships.

- While working at her father’s dinner theater during college, Wendy met and later married Jeff Davis, a Fort Worth attorney. While married to Jeff Davis, Wendy had her second daughter Dru and continued to excel academically. She graduated first in her class from TCU. Wendy applied and was accepted to Harvard Law School. As Wendy has said before, Jeff helped her fulfill her dream of attending Harvard by cashing in a 401k and later they took out loans.

- While at Harvard, Wendy and Jeff arranged her schedule and that of her daughters, Amber and Dru, so that they could be together often. The girls lived in Boston during Wendy’s first year. In subsequent semesters, Wendy commuted weekly and Wendy’s mother played a daily caretaking role to assist the family.

- Following her graduation from Harvard, Wendy came home to Texas, completed a judicial clerkship, worked as a successful attorney at the law firm Haynes and Boone and later worked as an officer in their family’s title company.

- Ultimately, Wendy’s marriage to Jeff failed. The couple separated and shared custody of Dru who was still a minor. Dru lived in the family home with Jeff. After sometimes contentious proceedings, the divorce from Jeff became final and the two parents shared custody of their daughters Amber and Dru. Wendy was constantly present and sharing in the support and raising of her daughters as they grew up, attended college and have taken on jobs of their own.

- Wendy and her daughters remain very close. She and Jeff Davis have a healthy and respectful relationship based on their mutual love of their daughters
.

The net changes being made are so insignificant that I think that the GOP opposition types who are pushing this crap should be ashamed of themselves.

I want to repeat that I have given money to Wendy in the past and I plan to make further contributions to her
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