America's political elite and talking heads are denouncing GOP frontrunners, specifically Donald Trump, for their hard lines on illegal immigration and their stances against abortion following the video evidence of Planned Parenthood atrocities. These elites are robotically repeating the same talking points:
• Donald Trump cannot win the general election because you must win the Hispanic vote to win the White House.
• To win the Hispanic vote, you cannot take a hardline against illegal immigration with the promise to deport all illegal aliens.
• The GOP cannot shut down the federal government over the defunding of Planned Parenthood — that would be political suicide.
These members of the polical elite have not taken a hard look at the 2014 election of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R.). His election is the the litmus test for a national Republican presidential campaign built on defunding Planned Parenthood and fighting illegal immigration, including securing the border.
Texas Attorney General and Republican Gov.-elect Greg Abbott acknowledges the crowd during his victory celebration in Austin, Texas, Nov. 4, 2014. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Mengwen Cao)
The Texas 2014 gubernatorial race between Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis was one for the books. Davis built her campaign on the issue of easier access to abortion services — or as she would call it, "women's health." At the time, the Texas legislature was in a heated battle to defund most Planned Parenthood facilities in the Lone Star State because the organization was providing abortions into the second trimester.
Davis did not decide to run for governor until after she filibustered for 13 hours a bill in the Texas Senate to severely limit abortions. She was hailed by the mainstream media as a champion of women's rights and urged to run for governor. The Davis campaign was built on women's issues, driver licenses for illegal immigrants and the legalization of medical marijuana.
On the other hand, Abbott ran on securing the border and against Planned Parenthood and abortion. This was his starkest difference with Davis, and the talking heads predicted Texas could turn blue; while many progressive groups pumped abundant resources into the Davis campaign. The elites were claiming that there is no way to win an election if you oppose abortion and/or amnesty for illegal immigrants.
But Abbott won by wide margins — a whopping 20 points over Davis. But real story is in the break down of the exit polls.
Abbott, an anti-illegal immigration, anti-abortion Republican, won the youth vote by 14 points. He also won Latino men, white women, moderates/independents and college graduates by indisputable margins.
Texas exemplifies the success a campaign can achieve with millennials, Latinos, women and independents if a candidate has the courage to stand up to political correctness on the issues that matter to a majority of Americans.
The passion found in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election is why Donald Trump is doing so well with voters. The winning issues are illegal immigration and a strong stand against the abortion practices of Planned Parenthood followed by the economy, jobs and national security. Trump is the only candidate who, right out of the gate, tackled the many issues that have come from illegal immigration and moral issues the elites have turned a blind eye to.
Donald Trump has tapped into a winning campaign issue and made it his campaign platform, which is why he is doing historically well in the polls against more moderate Republican candidates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Gov. Abbott and Trump have proven that voters care about these issues and want solutions to them.
The litmus test has been proven twice now by candidates who take aggressive positions on these delicate issues, and the Republican Party needs to start representing their constituents, the silent majority, and be ready to fight. Because it is a fight they can win.
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