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ROBERT COSTA AND NATIONAL
REVIEW'S SENIOR EDITOR.
SO THIS WEEK WE HAVE SEEN A
CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR IN TEXAS,
GREG ABBOTT, GET TIED TO TED
NUGENT WHO HE HAPPENED TO BE
CAMPAIGNING WITH HIM AND TED
NUGENT JUST SAID SOME
HORRIBLE -- I'M NOT GOING TO
REPEAT THUNGS AINGS ABOUT THE
PRESIDENT THAT HE SHOULD NEVER
HAVE SAID.
HE SEEMS MISOGYNIST.
HE'S WRITTEN SONGS ABOUT JAIL
BAIT.
HE'S WRITTEN OF HAVING ***
RELATIONED WITH UNDERAGE -- I
MEAN SO THIS IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT
YOU WANT YOUR CAMPAIGN TO BE
CLOAKED IN.
THE QUESTION IS, HAS GREG
ABBOTT, THE GUBERNATORIAL
CANDIDATE, BEEN DAMAGED.
WENDY DAVIS, THE DEMOCRATIC --
WHO IS A DEMOCRATIC
GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE, SAID
THIS ISN'T ABOUT SOME RAGING
ROCK STAR WAY PAST HIS PRIME WHO
SIMPLY NEEDS TO GO AWAY.
THIS IS ABOUT GREG ABBOTT.
IT IS ABOUT HIS CHARACTER, HIS
JUDGMENT, HIS VALUES WHEN HE
STANDS ON A STAGE NEXT TO
SOMEONE LIKE THAT AND REFERS TO
HIM AS HIS BLOOD BROTHER.
ANY DAMAGE HERE TO ABBOTT'S
CAMPAIGN?
>> I DON'T THINK SO.
I THINK WHAT HAPPENED -- THIS IS
TEXAS.
I THINK THIS IS GOOD BATTING
PRACTICE FOR REPUBLICANS
NATIONALLY.
THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF
FIGURES LIKE TED NUGENT THIS
YEAR.
BUT AT LEAST FOR REPUBLICANS
THIS WAS NOT A CANDIDATE MAKING
THESE KIND OF STATEMENTS.
THIS WAS A SURROGATE.
>> WHEN YOU HAVE SILENCE, THAT
IS ALSO AN ENDORSEMENT OF WHAT
YOU ARE SAYING.
AND FOR GREG ABBOTT NOT TO HAVE
STOOD UP AND NOT TO HAVE
RECOGNIZED THAT THIS WAS AS
DESPICABLE LANGUAGE AS IT WAS
REALLY SPEAKS VOLUME AND PEOPLE
WILL LOOK TO HIS CHARACTER.
TED NUGENT NOT ONLY SPEAKS FOR
TEXAS, HE SPEAKS TO THOSE WHOED
A HERE TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT
ISSUE.
THEY'LL USE THIS AS A FOIL
NATIONALLY SO IT DOES HAVE SOME
IMPLICATIONS.
>> IT ALSO BRINGS UP THE
QUESTION, WHAT ARE YOU
RESPONSIBLE FOR AS A CANDIDATE?
>> RIGHT.
YOU WERE SAYING THEY HAPPENED TO
BE CAMPAIGNING TOGETHER.
THAT WAS ABBOTT'S CHOICE.
RIGHT?
HE TIED HIMSELF TO KNEW GEPT AND
HE DIDN'T I THINK STRONGLY AND
FORCEFULLY ENOUGH REPUDIATE HIS
COMMENTS AND I THINK HE COULD
HAVE DONE THAT AND STILL HAD A
STRONG POSITION.
I THINK HE'S HAD HAD A VERY GOOD
COUPLE OF MONTHS HERE, LARGELY
BECAUSE DAVIS IS NOT A
PARTICULARLY STRONG CANDIDATE.
>> UNLIKE JOHN McCAIN WHO IN A
WAY WHEN THE WOMAN SAID, I AM
TERRIFIED OF OBAMA BECAUSE I
THINK HE IS AN ARAB," AND HE
IMMEDIATELY DENOUNCED IT AT THAT