Early Donations Show Many Want Change

                                                   

If you listen to most political pundits, then you might think that the states of Texas and Georgia are far too red for any Democrat to have a chance in a statewide race. But pundits have been wrong in the past, and there's some evidence that could be the case again.

The lady pictured above on the left is Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. She became famous across the country when she stood up to right-wing Republicans in the state senate, and filibustered an anti-woman bill to death. The GOP in Texas had to call a special session and change the rules to get their odious bill passed. But even though Sen. Davis was unable to block the bill a second time, she inspired Democrats in the Lone Star State.

Texas Democrats began begging Davis to run for governor ( a post not held by a Democrat in over 20 years), and even before she made up her mind about that her campaign chest grew to more than a million dollars. And after she announced she would run for governor next year, another $500,000 was raised in a single day -- and the donations keep flowing in (with over 30 Texas blogs now raising money for her campaign).

Then we have the lady pictured above right. That is Democrat Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. She has declared her candidacy for the soon to be vacant U.S. Senate seat in Georgia. And the residents of Georgia are giving her the same kind of monetary support that Davis is getting from Texans.

In the first three months after declaring her candidacy, she has raised more than $1.7 million. That's more than any of her possible Republican opponents in that same time period. And the money, like Davis' contributions, comes mostly from small contributors. Over 6,700 people have donated an average of $253 each to her campaign. Rep. Jack Kingston, the biggest GOP fundraiser seeking the office, has raised more money overall (about $2.9 million) -- but it took him three times as long to do it, and he got the money from only 1,400 people.

And it's not just the money being raised by these two ladies that is turning the political wisdom on its head. In a recent poll, Nunn was even with or ahead of any of the possible GOP candidates running for the senate. The polls are encouraging for Davis too. Although she trails Her probable opponent (Gred Abbott) by eight points (29% to 21%), about half of those polled say they haven't made up their minds.

It's still very early, and anything could happen in the year before the election actually takes place. But these early signs should be very encouraging to Texas and Georgia Democrats (especially since the national Republicans are currently damaging their party's image). Texas and Georgia just may not be as red as everyone thinks. The people of those states may finally be ready to vote for sanity and competence.