Cecile Richards: Mom never led in the polls. People just showed up and voted.

[madfloridian]

3. Nice article about Ann's 1990 campaign.

When Ann Richards began her campaign for governor, she was an underdog, given little chance of winning by the pundits and political pros—even by some of the paid consultants on her own campaign staff. In the summer of 1990, after one of the most brutal Democratic primary elections in memory, Ann started her race against Clayton Williams more than 27 points behind him in the polls, considered to be an insurmountable obstacle to overcome.

Few people remember how bleak the situation looked for Ann as the campaign headed into Labor Day, just two months before the general election. The Capitol press corps had written her off and enjoyed taking pot-shots at her and her hapless campaign staff. After all, she was an underfunded, divorced single mother, a recovering alcoholic, a liberal Democrat, a civil rights activist and a pro-choice feminist in a conservative, increasingly Republican-leaning state.

Most political pros considered these facts so negative that it was a safe bet to predict her defeat, just as the “experts” are predicting defeat for Wendy Davis today. Yet, some of Ann’s closest friends and advisors were determined to do everything within their power to show the naysayers that there was a path to victory, no matter what the experts predicted. We knew we had to be bold, rather than cautious. So, we put on our blinders, ignored the carping and criticism, and forged ahead to create a disciplined and focused campaign that could be flexible enough to take advantage of any good luck that came our way. And we needed a lot of good luck!

http://www.texasobserver.org/wendy-davis-can-learn-ann-richards-gubernatorial-campaign/