William A. Jacobson:
There is a growing attempt to paint Wendy Davis as the victim of a double standard, in which a woman is treated more harshly than conservative men as to family failings and career ambition.
Kirsten Powers articulated that view in her post at The Daily Beast, The Right Subjects Wendy Davis to Litmus Tests No Male Would Ever Face (interestingly, the title shows up in search engines as “Wendy Davis the Piñata Parent,” not sure if that was the original title):
It seems that Wendy Davis needs to learn her place….
It’s fair to criticize Davis for her misleading bio that implied she had been a single mother during law school. Instead, a misogynistic mob is determined to punish her for her parenting choices….
Where were the headlines claiming the unfitness of male Republican candidates who ditched wives with whom they had children (think Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani)? Or are we to understand that conservatives believe that cheating on a spouse and getting divorced is not relevant, but giving your husband full custody of a child is?
Similarly, Politico Magazine has a lead article playing up the “Wendy as victim of sexism” defense. In The Most Judged Woman in America, the sub-title tells the story:
Wendy Davis did make a mistake. She thought that we were ready for a single mother.
Just Google “Wendy Davis Sexism” and you will see that these two examples above are not exceptions, they are part of a pattern of defending Davis.
There is no double standard. Both Newt Gingrich and John McCain were seriously attacked because of their treatment of first wives and kids, as I shared with Powers in a Twitter exchange:
@kirstenpowers10 How Newt and McCain treated first wives and kids w/r/t political ambitions were huge deals, @WendyDavisTexas not 1st case
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) January 24, 2014
@LegInsurrection Conservatives did not en masse say that they had no future in politics b/c of their behavior (nor shld they have imo)
— Kirsten Powers (@kirstenpowers10) January 25, 2014
@kirstenpowers10 How Newt and McCain treated first wives and kids w/r/t political ambitions were huge deals, @WendyDavisTexas not 1st case
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) January 24, 2014
Every case is different, and the world of politics rarely is entirely consistent.
But if anything, Davis has been treated the way we would expect a man to be treated if it were discovered that his entire political narrative was exaggerated if not fabricated. The reasons her treatment of her husband and children matters is that it always matters, and that she made her parenting a critical part of her political narrative.
Greg Abbott was 17 when he got a girl pregnant. He was 18 when she had the baby but left her just a year later, at age 19 and his divorce from her was finalized when he was 21.
Three years later he met a high earning lawyer that was 13 years his senior. He married her, and together they had another child. She paid for his final two years at the University of Houston, and when he was awarded a spot at Yale, he left her, and the children, behind in Houston while he pursued his law degree. The second Mrs. Abbott cashed in her 401(k) and took out a ten year loan to pay for his time at Yale. Meanwhile, Mrs. Abbott remained in Houston, build on her business that she had started, and took care of both his kids, only one being hers.
When Abbott returned to Houston, after obtaining his law degree, he went to work with his wife in the business she had started. But things were not well between them, so the day after his Yale debt was paid off, he left her. Abbott filed for divorce, and Mrs. Abbott counter filed, claiming infidelity on his part. When they were divorced, Abbott got half the business Mrs. Abbott had originally started, which required selling the business, gave total custody of the children to her because “it was not a good time for him” and was ordered not only to pay $1,200/month in child support for the younger child, but to not use illegal drugs or alcohol for 24 hours prior to his visitation privileges.
Imagine that was the story about Greg Abbott. Would anyone be cutting him any slack? Would the left be calling him a womanizer, a gigolo, a dead beat dad that gave up custody of his children because “it wasn’t a good time in his life,” a user who deserted his kids and left one of them in the custody of a woman who wasn’t even the child’s own mother? You betcha they would. In spades. Loud and clear and to the mountain tops.
Wendy Davis embellished her resume. She made her life sound much more hard than it really was for political expediency. Now, because she got caught by the left leaning Dallas Morning News, she’s crying foul and pretending to be a victim. But the bottom line is that she might have gotten by with the fabrications, the having her own daughter make a commercial spouting the fabrications, and playing the victim except for one thing; she dumped her kids on her soon to be ex-husband, and I don’t know a woman alive that wouldn’t fight tooth and toenail to keep custody of her kids, no matter the hardship involved.
Texans may forgive Davis for a lot, but dumping her kids is not one of those things.
@retire05: Wow, that Abbot guy was a real low life, wasn’t he?
@retire05: I can forgive Windy for all of it; but I ain’t gonna vote for her.
Bill, if davis will dump on her own kids, she will have no problem dumping on texans