Here in Texas, we've got an Attorney General named Greg Abbott whose mamma apparently never had that talk about choosing friends wisely.
First he cavorted about Texas with has-been-rocker-turned-nasty-mouthed-Republican-troll Ted Nugent. Then late last week, reports revealed that at the heart of Abbott's education plan is a guy named Charles Murray, an unapologetic White nationalist who gained fame and fortune "using racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics" to sell the inferiority of minorities as an excuse for funneling education monies upward to the children of a chosen few.
The connection of Abbot's "Educating Texans Plan: Pre-K–Third Grade" to The Bell Curve's Murray had the wanna-be Texas governor on the run from the press.
So, in an effort to rehabilitate his flailing education scheme, Abbott reached into the Republican rogue's gallery and pulled Senator Donna Campbell from the line-up for the assist ... we knew, at that point, we just had to give her a hand!
Abbott used his campaign website to host the virtual town hall that Campbell was to moderate. Questions were mainly posted at least 24 hours in advance but #TeamBoone was initially struck by how few were there. Ten minutes before the event, just a dozen were listed. Seems the "darling" part of Campbell's Tea Party affiliation has passed its sell-by date.
Daniel Boone, Clinical Psychologist and retired USAF Lt. Colonel, stood by on Twitter prepared to offer running commentary in rebuttal to the Campbell/Murray/Abbott plan using the hashtag #NoRedEd.
Turns out, there was precious little to rebut! An hour into the fiasco, Campbell (who arrived late to her own party) had responded to just three questions, leaving the Boone team free to post on Twitter the Democratic challenger's own answers to questions left untouched and repeat the offer for a Boone-Campbell debate. After an hour-and-a-half of the nonsense and having out-town halled the pair, #TeamBoone called it a day.
Here's a link to the Storified Twitter feed of Boone's response to Campbell's non-event. And the web version, as well.
Despite low turnout for the Campbell-Abbott town hall, attending the venture was no waste of time. First, the Boone campaign was able to monitor in real time the hapless execution of an event that had constituents waiting for hours to get feedback from their host. We were left to surmise their carrirer pigeons encountered heavy traffic getting word back from their Koch enablers.
Another benefit is that it gave the team the ability to call attention to what might have been an otherwise unnoticed event and a leading indicator of how far the Right's mighty have fallen. The Campbell Coalition that had everyone fearful of a rout in Texas Senate District 25 has fallen apart. Not even one snarky response from her Twitterazzi running to her defense!
#TeamBoone is now convinced the #TX-Sen #Dist25 is ours for the taking but make no mistake, Team Campbell will fight us for every vote. Join us and pitch in any way you can .. we'll make sure Campbell and Abbot keep on running away.
You can help us #DumpDonna, a Tea Partier whose coffers will be flush with outside money. Will you help us beat Goliath? Donate! Tweet! Volunteer! Do what you can! Heck, might even get an Abbott-Campbell two-fer in the deal.