# The reason Greg Abbott won Texas governor by a 21% margin **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935 "2014-11-06T22:29:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/1 "2014-11-06T22:29:06Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kUF9bGLdnEc/hqdefault.jpg "Madrina - Mother-in-Law") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUF9bGLdnEc) The election was over the minute I saw this ad on tv. Ideology aside, this is the best political ad I have ever seen. Pure demographic genius. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/2 "2014-11-06T23:47:10Z")
With all due respect, this doesn’t seem much different than most pro-candidate ads. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/3 "2014-11-07T00:22:15Z")
I have to agree with Velocity. What’s the message? Abbott’s family loves him. I sort of assume that’s true for every candidate. My takeaway from that ad was that Abbott must have run some other campaign ads where he offered some good reasons why Texans should vote for him. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/4 "2014-11-07T00:36:30Z")
\*blah blah blah MADRINA blah blah GODMOTHER blah blah blah CHURCH \* Madrina - Hispanics Godmother - Family Values Church - Christians In one sentence the game was won. 5 seconds. There is no message, it is demographic buzzwords spouted by a cute old lady in a plausible narrative. Genius. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/5 "2014-11-07T03:02:18Z")
Wow, a Texan Republican appealing to Hispanic Christian family values voters. What a daring and original idea. Here’s a thought. Maybe for his next campaign, he can show a flag waving. Or maybe have him petting a dog. Seriously, this is about as bland and stereotypical as a campaign ad can get. I don’t see why you feel it’s impressive. Abbott could afford to run meaningless ads like this because he’s had a huge lead over Davis for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/6 "2014-11-07T03:11:39Z")
The _best_ campaign ad I ever saw was one by Jerry Brown, when he won the governorship of California recently. All he did was show a clip from his opponent saying something like “When I came to California, it was a land of opportunity”, or something like that, and then pointed out that when his opponent came to California, Brown was governor. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/7 "2014-11-07T04:43:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The _best_ campaign ad I ever saw was one by Jerry Brown, when he won the governorship of California recently. All he did was show a clip from his opponent saying something like “When I came to California, it was a land of opportunity”, or something like that, and then pointed out that when his opponent came to California, Brown was governor. Too funny. That definitely sounds like something Brown would come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/8 "2014-11-07T05:15:13Z")
I’ll admit to a fondness for the Mike Huckabee Chuck Norris ad. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MDUQW8LUMs8/hqdefault.jpg "Mike Huckabee Ad: "Chuck Norris Approved"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/9 "2015-02-13T19:25:50Z")
Did Abbott win the Hispanic vote? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/10 "2015-02-13T19:38:56Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > **The reason Greg Abbott won Texas governor by a 21% margin** I’d say that was because he was 1) running in Texas, 2) Republican, and 3) alive. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/11 "2015-02-13T19:58:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’d say that was because he was 1) running in Texas, 2) Republican, and 3) alive. By this logic, why do Democrats ever lose governorships in blue states? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/12 "2015-02-13T20:04:33Z")
Let’s see, tons of fluff by a family member and zero policy statements. Yep, this ad _totally_ stands out from the other 20,000 ads that were run during the last election. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/13 "2015-02-13T20:18:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The _best_ campaign ad I ever saw was one by Jerry Brown, when he won the governorship of California recently. All he did was show a clip from his opponent saying something like “When I came to California, it was a land of opportunity”, or something like that, and then pointed out that when his opponent came to California, Brown was governor. Even sight unseen, that’s fucking _brilliant._ I’ll have to dig that up on YouTube sometime - I’m sure it’s there. (I’d do it now, but I can’t view stuff on YouTube from work.) ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/14 "2015-02-13T20:30:48Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Even sight unseen, that’s fucking _brilliant._ > > I’ll have to dig that up on YouTube sometime - I’m sure it’s there. (I’d do it now, but I can’t view stuff on YouTube from work.) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEPlZYp5-Pk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEPlZYp5-Pk) There you go. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/15 "2015-02-13T20:58:27Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > By this logic, why do Democrats ever lose governorships in blue states? Perhaps because Democratic voters are not quite so inflexibly partisan as Pubs. Perhaps because Texas is _sui generis,_ being the reddest of all red states, or nearly so. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/16 "2015-02-13T21:07:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’d say that was because he was 1) running in Texas, 2) Republican, and 3) alive. Yeah, that’s why Abbott won the election. That ad may be why he won the Republican primary. I can’t remember whether it was playing then or not… I was mostly trying to tune out all the political ads, including the abysmally stupid Dan Patrick and Glenn Hegar ones. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/17 "2015-02-13T21:15:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Wow, a Texan Republican appealing to Hispanic Christian family values voters. What a daring and original idea. Heh… right, just because he’s Republican, why would he ignore the reality of Texas and what it takes to win votes. And especially if he’s not trying to run for President soon – wasn’t Rick Perry hammered by other Republicans for being “soft” on immigration issues, during his brief run? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/18 "2015-02-13T21:28:07Z")
I would say that, in order, the reasons are his being 1. Republican 2. white 3. running in Texas 4. alive How do Republicans win governorships in blue states? They run in midterm presidential years and they aren’t batshit crazy (Scott Walker excepted). How about that, an appeal to Christianity. I wonder why nobody else ever thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/19 "2015-02-13T21:45:31Z")
This is a state that elected George W. Bush twice and followed that electoral brilliance by giving Rick Dingbat Perry three terms. Is the concept here that Hispanics are so dumb they’ll go rushing to vote for Abbott because this “Madrina” loves him so much. This thread might have made more sense if it was about an underdog candidate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935/20 "2015-02-13T22:38:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Did Abbott win the Hispanic vote? > [@](#): > > In the Texas race for governor, Democrat Wendy Davis won the Latino vote 55% to 44% but lost the election to Republican Greg Abbott. [Cite.](http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/11/07/hispanic-voters-in-the-2014-election/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reason-greg-abbott-won-texas-governor-by-a-21-margin/703935.md?page=2)