It may be too early to start running attack ads on TV and radio for the 2014 Texas general and primary elections. But it's apparently never too early to launch an attack website.
So to give you something to do heading into the weekend, we've compiled a list of some of the most prominent attack sites out there at the moment. The number will certainly grow as we get closer to the primaries in March.
This is the newest entry, launched today. Its opening post is titled, "The night that will live in Texas political infamy, as told by cats." It lays out a timeline of the abortion filibuster night illustrated by 9 cat-filled GIFs that lay all the blame of the night at the feed of Lt. Governor David Dewhurst.
The site, of course, is run by State Senator and Lt. Governor candidate Dan Patrick (R-Houston).
This one is really just a petition form. There are no articles to click on. Just a web form asking for basic information to add your name to a petition calling for the impeachment of State School Board member Thomas Ratliff.
The site is maintained by Voices Empower, a group that “provides conservative new media consulting services to for-profit and non-profit organizations nationwide.”
They also really don’t like the educational tool CSCOPE, which has discontinued the lesson plan portion of its service, because some of the plans were perceived to be anti-American by sites like Voices Empower.
Ratliff has been a supporter of CSCOPE, claiming much of the anger directed at the program has been misguided. Ratliff is set to debate Sen. Patrick (who pushed to end the lesson plans this legislative session) on CSCOPE next Saturday in Tyler.
This is a classic opposition site. It attacks Attorney General Greg Abbott, the current GOP frontrunner for the 2014 Governor’s race, on a number of issues.
Here are just a few of the headlines from the site:
“Greg Abbott supports voter suppression”
“Greg Abbott opposes even minimal civil rights for Texas’ gay couples”
“Greg Abbott opposes the Affordable Care Act”
“Greg Abott sued the federal government several times to deny Texan women access to basic medical care.”
It’s run by the Texas Democratic Party which, at the moment, doesn’t have an alternative candidate to push. So trying to weaken the expected GOP opponent is the logical fallback.
This one isn’t much of a site. It’s got only one article which was posted on June 30, just a few days after Sen. Davis’ now famous, or infamous, abortion filibuster.
An attack on one of the few Texas Democrats who could make waves in the 2014 election makes sense. But this site, which bills itself as a “closer look at the Left’s new feminist superhero” only looks at one part of Davis’ profile.
No, not her position on abortion. Nope, not her support of ObamaCare…or any other policy statements. Instead, we get a long post ... examining what she used to look like in college.
The site’s entire argument for not voting for Davis appears to be that she is better looking now then she was in college. Needless to say, progressive bloggers and political activists have had some fun with it. Like this episode of the Young Turks:
