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| White guy wins after leading voters to believe he's black |
| 2013-11-10 |
| h/t Instapundit, Althouse Dave Wilson chuckles as he talks about his unorthodox political campaign. "I'd always said it was a long shot," Wilson says. "No, I didn't expect to win." Still, he figured he'd have fun running, because he was fed up with what he called "all the shenanigans" at the Houston Community College System. As a conservative white Republican running in a district whose voters are overwhelmingly black Democrats, the odds seemed overwhelmingly against him. Then he came up with an idea, an advertising strategy that his opponent found "disgusting." If a white guy didn't have a chance in a mostly African-American district, Wilson would lead voters to think he's black. And it apparently worked. In one of the biggest political upsets in Houston politics this election season, Wilson -- an anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor -- emerged as the surprise winner over 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin. His razor thin margin of victory, only 26 votes, was almost certainly influenced by his racially tinged campaign. "Every time a politician talks, he's out there deceiving voters," he says. Wilson, a gleeful political troublemaker, printed direct mail pieces strongly implying that he's black. His fliers were decorated with photographs of smiling African-American faces -- which he readily admits he just lifted off websites -- and captioned with the words "Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson." |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #20 Just how much a role Wilson's mailers played in the campaign is unclear. Other incumbents running for re-election were forced into runoffs, perhaps because the community college system has come under intense criticism for insider business deals and spending money on overseas initiatives. And after 24 years in office, Austin's name should have been somewhat familiar to his constituents. The unasked questions are: Was there another African-American running for the same office? If not, what would be the likelihood of Mr. Austin becoming a 30-year incumbent? How about a Hispanic candidate -would that change the odds? Or an African American, but one known for Christian fundamentalist, political conservative, or libertarian views - would Mr. Austin still get elected to another 6-year term? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-11-10 21:47 |
| #19 Thank you Angie, that does add to the story. 4 term Austin did not win on his name or lose on account of party affiliation. Lot of loaded words in this story - fringe, anti, tinged. I see nothing overtly deceiving on that brochure. It tastes of sour grape tears. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2013-11-10 17:38 |
| #18 Why not a fake Indian pulled the hi info voters in Mass |
| Posted by: regular joe 2013-11-10 17:34 |
| #17 they know you, |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-11-10 17:23 |
| #16 That looks like it was badanov, Jerk. He has a low tolerance for ... what is a good term for it... purposeful slow learning. I missed whatever idiocy it was that triggered him, but have little doubt it was deserved. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-11-10 17:11 |
#15 Love, the reaper
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| Posted by: Jerkface 2013-11-10 17:04 |
| #14 ...at the box there would still be the olde d and r signage. Nope. These races are "non-partisan" -- no parties listed. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2013-11-10 16:38 |
| #13 Dunno if it's just race-preference in voting. One can look at the Irish community in the Northeast as having been another sterling example. The tendency now is to vote for the ethnicity or skin color as well as the |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-11-10 14:15 |
| #12 Nice to see racism is alive and well in Amerika. You mean people voting only for their own race. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-11-10 13:46 |
| #11 It's come full term... passing for black is the new passing for white... |
| Posted by: Winky Bourbon6466 2013-11-10 13:35 |
| #10 and stupidity in KKKanada? See? I can do your dumb schtick just as poorly as you |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-11-10 13:29 |
| #9 You were warned. Dumbass. |
| Posted by: Jerk 2013-11-10 13:26 |
| #8 Clever, clean campaign brochure |
| Posted by: Clomotch Tholuger 2013-11-10 12:28 |
| #7 Reading this, I'm not so sure this is an accurate recount of the interview. If all he did was not show a picture of himself on the direct mail then whats the deal? If he put his name directly underneath a picture of Marshan Lynch then yeah, but at the box there would still be the olde d and r signage. Sounds like enough educated or pissed off voters wanted to kick out the 4 time elected Austin. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2013-11-10 12:22 |
| #6 A simple name change (seems popular with pols these days) from Dave Wilson to 'Davon' Wilson.... should keep him in office until the day he dies. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-11-10 11:18 |
| #5 Serves his constituents right. If they voted for nothing more than the man's skin color then they deserve whatever they get. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2013-11-10 11:06 |
| #4 Sounds like he violated someone's civil rights and AG Holder will be checking him out personally. As will the IRS and the election rules people. And the EPA, and the Post Office, and DEA, and so on. But none of them will notice the mob of his melanin-rich neighbors with the firebombs in his front yard.. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-11-10 09:31 |
| #3 Fair play. A neo-communist redistributionist won after leading voters to believe he was a 'liberal'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-11-10 08:45 |
| #2 "Every time a politician talks, he's out there deceiving voters," he says. YUP! YUP! and another YUP! |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2013-11-10 08:40 |
| #1 The elimination of literacy testing, and the unintended consequences. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-11-10 06:58 |