Dan Patrick’s Irresponsible Ad
Dan Patrick just made his first TV ad buy for the Lieutenant Governor’s race, and from the looks of it Patrick is gearing up for a real doozy.
Records released yesterday reveal that Patrick has purchased air time in several of Texas’s largest media markets, namely: Austin, Dallas, Lubbock, San Antonio, Tyler, Waco, and, of course, Houston. In the 30 second spot that was just made public today, Patrick comes out swinging against his opponent, Leticia Van de Putte.
For anyone who thought that Dan Patrick would moderate his rhetoric from the Republican primary, in which he rode a Tea Party wave to soundly defeat current Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, this ad comes as a sharp wake-up call. Patrick’s ad is not only extreme, it is completely irresponsible.
The ad begins by claiming that ISIS militants are operating in Mexico and planning an attack against the U.S. While this talking point has made rounds among reckless journalists and politicians, the Department of Homeland Security thoroughly debunked this claim last month stating that “There is no credible intelligence to suggest that there is an active plot by [ISIS] to attempt to cross the southern [U.S.] border.”
Patrick’s ad also claims that Van de Putte’s record on border policy is a failure, but this just isn’t the case. Leticia Van de Putte supported the general budget for 2014 and 15, SB1, which increased border security funding by nearly 33%. She was also a sponsor of legislation cracking down on human traffickers in the form of HB8. And while Patrick may claim that the Dream Act that Van de Putte wrote, which grants in-state tuition to children brought to the U.S., was partisan politics, he ignores that Governor Rick Perry supported and still supports this legislation, going so far as to say that Dream Act opponents “don’t have a heart.”
When the Chronicle’s editorial board endorsed Leticia Van de Putte, they did so because she understands that being elected means making policy, not making political hay. Being elected means working with both sides of the aisle, as Van de Putte has done with her Republican colleagues, not promoting an agenda that divides, disrupts, and appeals only to a narrow base.
Texans should play close attention to this race, the Lieutenant Governor is the most powerful elected position in the state and whoever is elected will have enormous power over the legislative agenda and budget of the next two years. If this ad represents Dan Patrick’s style of governing, then Texas voters should leave him in the same cow fields that he pulled this ad from.
What did you ever expect from Dan Patrick. He knows his audience. They are ignorant. They are border racists. They are not willing to learn. Patrick will take advantage of them. It sells in Texas. He is truly the Lord of the Ignorant.
In any case, Patrick has made this election a referendum on Open Borders. If we want trainloads of kids from Central America (many of them with illnesses) coming into this country we know who to vote for. Likewise, if we still want people from West Africa coming in, with their Ebola-risk status being based on the honor system (i.e., the forms they fill out), we know who to vote for.
If we’d rather not have any of that, we also know who to vote for. Very clear distinction between the candidates, for once, thankfully.
it is the Patrick onion, if you want the truth there are layers of coverup that needed to be pulled back.
Thank you, we wanted to know what the Van de Putte camp thought of the ad.
Is it possible that the Chronicle could also have a reporter look into the truthfulness too?
Do you have reason to believe President Obama’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is lying?
In August, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, warned that the open border posed an “immediate threat” for terrorist activity infiltrating the country. The government watchdog group, Judicial Watch, said ISIS terrorists were “planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle born [sic] improvised explosive devices.”