Now that details about Wendy Davis’s biography have been called into question, the spotlight needs to focus on the Davis campaign. It cannot afford to make unforced errors like these, and it certainly can’t turn around try to blame the Greg Abbott campaign for them (the last time I checked, Wayne Slater was a political journalist, not a political operative). Of course, these aren’t the first missteps: she was unable to estimate how much her education plan would cost the state, and her campaign fouled up its own math when it tried to attack Abbott over contributions from payday lenders. The words “not ready for prime time” come to mind, a concern that some Democrats privately shared with me months ago.
At some point the campaign must switch its attention from playing defense to an attack posture, but I’m very skeptical that the Davis campaign has the talent and the knowledge of state issues to take Abbott on. If nothing else, the Davis campaign should be bombarding Abbott with demands for debates and joint appearances. They can’t allow Abbott to hide behind his tea party rhetoric and answers of “no comment” on the tough issues. But so far, the Davis campaign hasn’t done any damage to Abbott. I just don’t see what the battle plan is for the Davis campaign.
(Image via AP | LM Otero)
