Democratic darling Wendy Davis takes on Tea Party terrorist Ted Cruz.

Courtesy of Keye TV:  

State Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor, criticized Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday for his role in the recent federal government shutdown, saying he harmed average citizens just to score political points. 

"I think he demonstrated that being the loudest person in the room isn’t necessarily equivalent to being a leader,” Davis said. "I was disappointed to see that he was willing to put so many thousands of Texas families in harm’s way for purposes of making a political statement.” 

Davis’ remarks, made outside an early voting location for the constitutional amendment election, amounted to her harshest assessment yet of the Tea Party-backed Republican. During her appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival last month, before the shutdown and debt ceiling brinkmanship roiled Washington, Davis noted that she and Cruz "agree on some things” and said politicians shouldn’t be afraid to say that. 

Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier fired back, saying the senator's efforts to stop the Affordable Care Act were justified. She also favorably compared what Cruz did with Davis' summer filibuster of a restrictive abortion bill. The legislation, which eventually passed, includes a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

"I think most Texans would agree that fighting to give them relief from a law that’s killing their health plans and hiking their insurance rates is a statement worth fighting for, as opposed to platforms centered on killing unborn babies after 20 weeks,” Frazier said. 

Davis rejected comparisons between her actions and those of Cruz and other Republicans who tried to gain concessions on Obamacare by withholding funding for the government and opposing an extension of the nation’s debt limit. 

"I was attempting to block a bill that would have harmed thousands of women across the state of Texas,” she said. "Never once, of course, did I threaten to literally shut down the state government for that purpose, and I certainly would never use the budget in the state of Texas for purposes of making a political statement.” 

In the shutdown fight, Davis said thousands of Texans were harmed, and she called for a more bipartisan approach in budgetary negotiations. 

"The concern is that we literally got to the brink of financial disaster. Political gamemanship overtook common sense,” she said. 

You know my all time favorite fantasy for a debate between to individuals would be Rachel Maddow VS Sarah Palin, which would be akin to a bug hitting a car windshield at 60 mph, however I have to admit that the idea of a Wendy Davis using her pink sneakers to kick the crap out of Ted Cruz is also pretty tantalizing.

I don't think that Cruz would stand much of a chance, and I also think that every time Davis takes him on she demonstrates her integrity and will attract more support from those infamous hard to motivate liberal voters in Texas.

My hope is that she will continue to goad him into these little back and forths, and use them to get national media attention, while also showing the people of Texas that they don't have to keep electing under-evolved Neanderthals, like Rick Perry, to lead their state.

By the way Harry Reid actually, kind of, endorsed the idea of Ted Cruz as the GOP nominee in 2016:

“If I didn’t care so much about our country, I would hope he would get the Republican nomination for president, because that would mean the end of the Republican Party.”

Maybe if we keep our fingers crossed, this will be the reality.