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Voter ID, Davis' Closing Gambit and the Texas Politics of Ebola

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Texas Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott speaking in Phoenix, Arizona.

The month before Election Day is always filled with a wealth of rhetoric as politicians plead their case before the polls open.

This October has been no exception; the sheer influx of information this week alone can be daunting. So Texas Standard's David Brown sat down with Austin American-Statesman chief political correspondent Jonathan Tiloveto sort through the run-up to early voting.

On the Ebola Scare's Political Effect:

"Anything that takes away from attention of the election is bad for [Wendy] Davis at this point," Tilove says. "The whole issue is very bad for Democrats, I think, because it continues on the sense that the Obama administration hasn’t been good at protecting the country – whether it’s the border, ISIS, or now Ebola."

On Wendy Davis’ Controversial "Wheelchair" Ad:

"There were criticisms – I think ultimately people said, 'Well she has a point in the arguments she's making in the rest of the ad.' … I think the point there was that she needed to grab people, and even facing a barrage of criticism was better than being ignored."

On Texas' Uncertain Voter ID Laws:

“You had the law, then you had the judge in Corpus saying this is a poll tax and we can’t let this stand. Then you had the 5th Circuit [Court] saying you gotta let it stand, you can’t be disrupting an election by changing the rules at the last minute. … I guess it's up to the Supreme Court now, with obviously Gregg Abbott saying leave it alone. Early voting starts Monday … right now you would [need an ID]."

David entered radio journalism thanks to a love of storytelling, an obsession with news, and a desire to keep his hair long and play in rock bands. An inveterate political junkie with a passion for pop culture and the romance of radio, David has reported from bases in Washington, London, Los Angeles, and Boston for Monitor Radio and for NPR, and has anchored in-depth public radio documentaries from India, Brazil, and points across the United States and Europe. He is, perhaps, known most widely for his work as host of public radio's Marketplace. Fulfilling a lifelong dream of moving to Texas full-time in 2005, Brown joined the staff of KUT, launching the award-winning cultural journalism unit "Texas Music Matters."
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