Most Texas politicians-- both sides of the aisle-- got A+ or A grades from the NRA. Blue Dog Pete Gallego got an A- and Ft. Worth freshman Dem, Marc Veasy, was given a B+. Remember state Senator Leticia Van de Putte standing up the other night and asking what it takes for a woman senator to get recognized in the male-dominated Texas Senate? The NRA rated her a B. Of the dozens and dozens of Texas politicians the NRA rated, only six, all Democrats, got an F. One of those six was state Senator Wendy Davis.In 2011, the Texas legislature passed a number of bills to gerrymander the state and to discourage voting among minorities. Davis voted against all of them. The conservative organizations that rate the work of Texas legislators all flunked Davis and the progressive organization and non-partisan reform groups all gave her the big thumbs up. Her average score among environmental groups is close to 100%. NARAL and the Texas Humane Society gave her 100%. Last year she was endorsed by the AFL-CIO, SEIU and the Texas League of Conservation Voters.After watching her heroic performance Tuesday night, I called Michael Keegan, president of People for the American Way, Wednesday morning and asked him if she was a member of PFAW's Young Elected Officials. He acknowledged her youthful energy but pointed out that the cutoff age is 35 and that Davis, regardless of how great she looks and how much energy she has, is 50. I would have guessed 30's. But she was born in 1963 in Forth Worth, where is the area she represents in the Texas state Senate now-- although probably not for long, since Texas Republicans plan to gerrymander her district to get rid of her.She comes from a broken home, started working at age 14, married when she was still a teenager, had a daughter and was divorced all before she was 20. She worked her way through college as a waitress, graduated #1 in her class from Texas Christian University... and then went to Harvard Law for her law degree. An inspiring American success story... but it may still be early in this story. Since finding herself on the national stage this week, there's a Texas-wide Draft Wendy for Governor movement which is gaining steam across the country.This wasn't her first big deal filibuster. In 2011 she launched one against Rick Perry's budget because it chopped $4 billion from public education and gave much of it to his cronies and campaign donors in the private education arena. Perry called a special session back then too.Right wingers have had Wendy Davis in their sites for a long time. On March 20, 2012, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at her office in Fort Worth. No one can say for sure where Rep. Steve Stockman, who was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing, was at the time. The police picked up a different homeless, crazy guy. Will Davis run for governor? No one knows for sure and that probably includes her, although she told Chris Hayes in the video above, she's thinking about it. Although there's no governor's campaign fund open for her yet, so people are contributing to her state Senate campaign fund-- and all that money is transferable into a gubernatorial race if she decides to run. Of course, not everyone is as enthusiastic as progressives are:Could Davis beat Rick Perry if he runs again? Rachel Maddow is having trouble understanding why anyone votes for Perry. I don't get that either.
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