Texas Democrat governor nominee Wendy Davis’ wheelchair ad continues to destroy her campaign.
Davis, trailing badly in most polls, released this ad late last week.
As Breitbart’s Sarah Rumpf reported, reaction to it has ranged from negative to really negative.
It’s that opening image of the empty wheelchair that is generating so much outrage. Republican nominee Greg Abbott was left paralyzed for life by an accident many years ago. There was no reason for the Davis campaign to go there, least of all for a campaign whose supporters have been caught on tape mocking Abbott’s disability in the past.
Add to that, the fact that the ad’s claims have been debunked in the past. It’s a dishonest, angrily negative ad that just seeks to tear Abbott down by any means necessary.
Outrage at the ad is bipartisan, with everyone from here to BuzzFeed to the Washington Post piling on.
This morning on MSNBC, Davis’ ad just keeps backfiring. Morning Joe discussed the ad on the “Lean Forward” network, and for many Americans, this was probably their first look at it. MJ played the entire ad. Professor Dorien Warren called it a “huge blunder” and predicted that it will depress turnout.
“This is not gonna motivate her voters to come out,” Warren said.
Host (and liberal) Mika Brzezinski admitted that she “cringed” watching the ad, and tried to distance Davis from the ad on Davis’ behalf. (For the record, Davis refuses to apologize for or take down the ad.)
“Yikes, I cringed watching that. Didn’t like it,” Brzezinski said.
John Heilemann wondered if the ad wouldn’t cause Davis to lose by even more than Democratic nominee Bill White lost to Rick Perry by in 2010.
“Wendy Davis was supposed to be the Democrat who turned Texas blue,” Heilemann said. But because of this ad, “She’s gonna get creamed.”
Perry won the 2010 race, over the most credible nominee that the Texas Democrats had come up with in years, by 13 points.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member