AP Dishonestly Headlines Report on Wendy Davis's Despicable Anti-Abbott Ad

October 10th, 2014 11:44 PM

Another day, another dishonest Associated Press headline.

No one realistically expects the AP, aka the Administration's Press, to go after Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis for her vicious ad attacking her opponent, Greg Abbott. The 30-second ad, seen after the jump, denigrates Abbott as a man who sued for millions when he was crippled by a falling tree and then supposedly turned his back on victims as the Lone Star State's Attorney General. That said, it shouldn't be too much — but it apparently is — to expect the AP to avoid presenting headlines which are the direct opposite of reality.

First, the ad:

Now, the AP headline:

DAVIS TV AD FOCUSES ON ABBOTT IN WHEELCHAIR

Did anyone see Greg Abbott "in (a) wheelchair" in the ad? Didn't think so.

AP reporter Jim Vertuno's story left out Davis's history of biographical fabrication, and seemed to imply that going after Abbott was okay — because Abbott has made light of his own disability:

A new television ad by Democrat Wendy Davis goes into territory she hadn't touched until now: Republican Greg Abbott's use of a wheelchair.

A 30-second ad released Friday and titled "Justice" notes the Texas Attorney General recovered millions in a lawsuit after he was injured by a falling tree in 1984, and accuses him of not siding with victims like himself in Texas courts.

It drew a swift rebuke from national conservative groups and the Abbott campaign, which called it "disgusting" and "desperate."

... Abbott lost the use of his legs after his spine was crushed by the falling oak tree. The wheelchair hasn't held him back in his legal or political careers that saw him elected to the state Supreme Court and as attorney general in 2002.

Davis' ad is the first by an Abbott opponent to make such an overt issue of his wheelchair. And it comes with little time left for Davis to close the gap on Abbott, who began the race as the favorite and still maintains sizable leads in opinion polls and campaign bank accounts.

... Abbott's own ads have drawn attention to his disability, most notably in spots in which he talks about his recovery and uses the chair to roll past cars stuck in bad traffic. He often mentions it in speeches, and has even been known to joke about it.

"Some politicians talk about having a spine of steel. I actually have one." Abbott said when he launched his campaign in 2013.

Davis spokesman Zac Petkanas defended the ad as a fair critique of Abbott as a hypocrite when it comes to his personal life and public policy.

Referring to the bolded language: The implication seems to be that if a disabled person talks publicly about his disability, makes light of it, and uses his determination to encourage others, that makes it okay for his political opponents to go after him viciously and without basis.

Say it ain't so, Jim Vertuno.

As to what Vertuno left out, let's go back to January:

Ms. Davis ... has fielded off charges that she purposely stretched the truth with her education claims and housing situation. She claimed her Harvard schooling was financed by student loans and grants but left out the part about the cash contributions from her wealthy husband.

On top of that, she claimed she divorced at 19 and lived in a trailer — but actually, she divorced at 21 and lived only a brief time in a trailer home. Ms. Davis first rose to national fame when she donned pink running shoes and a urinary catheter to try and filibuster a state bill on abortion.

Also in January, the Dallas Morning News reported that Davis "filed for divorce right after her husband paid the final bill for her law degree."

Given that the indispensable James O'Keefe's Project Veritas found Davis supporters openly mocking Abbott's wheelchair-bound status in January, it was perhaps inevitable that the candidate herself would stoop that low if the situation were to become sufficiently desperate — which it apparently is.

Note: The exposure in the photo accompanying this post was slightly brightened for clarity.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.