Chad’s Morning Brief: Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis Debate for the Final Time, Gay Marriage Issue Could Impact 2014 Midterms, and Other Top Stories

Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis had their final debate last night and it went about as expected. I thought Greg Abbott came away from the debate looking like a leader and looking like someone who was ready to become the next Governor of Texas. Wendy Davis again had a meltdown, wouldn't listen to the moderators, sounded like a robot, and wouldn't answer questions. For Davis, it was attack, attack, attack. Wendy Davis even refused to answer a question about where she would be comfortable banning abortion. She wouldn't say if she would ban late-term abortion. Instead she accused Greg Abbott of being against Texas women.

We will discuss this more on today's show and you can watch the video of the debate below.

Gay Marriage, SCOTUS, and 2014

The issue of Gay Marriage could be a big issue in the upcoming midterm elections if the Supreme Court takes up the issue. According to POLITICO, Republicans think this might help them and not the Democrats.

Gay rights advocates are adamant that a fresh move by the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue won’t hurt candidates who support same-sex marriage, but some analysts and Republican strategists say any attention to the issue is likely to energize social conservatives and push moderate voters who lean conservative on social issues away from Democrats, particularly in the South.

Key Senate races are taking place in states, such as Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, that have outlawed same-sex marriage only to face legal challenges. Conservatives in these places who fear the high court is trying to broaden the practice beyond the 19 states that have already legalized it could turn out in higher numbers.

“In the short term, raising the salience of same-sex marriage is bad for the Democratic vis-à-vis the Republican Party, simply because of the geographic arrangement of the states in play for control of the Senate,” said New York University political science professor Patrick Egan. “They’re states that lag behind the rest of the country on same-sex marriage.”

Raising the issue would put Democrats in these close contests in a particularly tough spot, because they would risk turning off voters on an issue that is widely supported in their own party.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), for example, “does not want to face reporters questioning her about same-sex marriage,” according to Egan.

A total of seven petitions asking the high court to resolve the legal debate over same-sex marriage went before the justices at their so-called long conference Monday — a closed-door meeting that serves as the first opportunity for the justices to consider filings that piled up over the summer and decide which cases they’ll add to the court’s agenda for the term that begins Oct. 6.

There was no word from the court Monday about whether it would wade into the same-sex marriage issue in the coming term. Such an announcement could come as soon as Tuesday or not until the court convenes next week. The justices could also put off a decision until a similar conference late next week or carry the petitions over from week to week.

In a few select races, I could see how this could work out for the Republicans. However nationally it is a different story and one that could have an impact later down the road.

You can read the full story by clicking on the link above.

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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.