Wendy Davis and the political power of the filibuster
By Chris Cillizza, WashPost, Updated: June 26, 2013
Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour long filibuster of an abortion bill on Tuesday riveted the country — at one point there were nearly 200,000 people following the livestream of her remarks — and proved, yet again, a very simple political fact: We are suckers for a good, old fashioned filibuster.
Davis’ talk-a-thon had it all. A female state Senator opposing legislation that would close the vast majority of abortion clinics in the Lone Star state. A cavalcade of women packing the chamber to support her. The remarkably strict rules governing filibusters in Texas which led to a dispute at one point over whether in putting on a back brace Davis had ceded the floor.
The confluence of those factors catapulted Davis from a member of the minority party in the Texas legislature into a national Democratic heroine in the space of just a few hours. And, it’s not the first time this year that we’ve seen a filibuster have that effect.
Back in early March, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul held the floor for more than 12 hours as he spoke out against the Obama Administration’s drone policies. In the course of those 12 hours, the leading lights of the Republican party — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and 2016 frontrunner Marco Rubio (Fla.) — made their way to the floor to offer support for Paul. By the time it was over, Paul, already a much-discussed 2016 presidential candidate, had become the talk of the GOP.
(More here.)
Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour long filibuster of an abortion bill on Tuesday riveted the country — at one point there were nearly 200,000 people following the livestream of her remarks — and proved, yet again, a very simple political fact: We are suckers for a good, old fashioned filibuster.
Davis’ talk-a-thon had it all. A female state Senator opposing legislation that would close the vast majority of abortion clinics in the Lone Star state. A cavalcade of women packing the chamber to support her. The remarkably strict rules governing filibusters in Texas which led to a dispute at one point over whether in putting on a back brace Davis had ceded the floor.
The confluence of those factors catapulted Davis from a member of the minority party in the Texas legislature into a national Democratic heroine in the space of just a few hours. And, it’s not the first time this year that we’ve seen a filibuster have that effect.
Back in early March, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul held the floor for more than 12 hours as he spoke out against the Obama Administration’s drone policies. In the course of those 12 hours, the leading lights of the Republican party — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and 2016 frontrunner Marco Rubio (Fla.) — made their way to the floor to offer support for Paul. By the time it was over, Paul, already a much-discussed 2016 presidential candidate, had become the talk of the GOP.
(More here.)
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