From a commenter: “The controversy over this ad comes from people, a lot of smart people in the media who should know better, and Republican partisans, who don’t understand the difference between a Symbol and a Sign. In this ad, the wheelchair is a Symbol for the compassion we owe to people who have been disabled. Because we may one day be disabled ourselves. This lack of compassion from Greg Abbott is what’s derided. Not the fact that he uses a wheelchair. That he has no empathy for people, who have suffered as he has, is disturbing and disqualifying for the office of governor. People who misunderstand this political ad pretend to be offended because they do not understand concepts like compassion and empathy and hypocrisy. They see a Sign and not a Symbol, they see: Wheelchair=Greg Abbott, Wheelchair=Bad, Wheelchair=Not Qualified. And that is their own deep seated prejudice showing. So the people that cry loudest and support Greg Abbott, deep down have contempt for him. Even Texas for all her sins and mistakes deserves better than that.”
Benenson stressed the commercial is not about Abbott’s disability but his “actions and behavior” that followed the accident. The ad cites one case in which Abbott argued that an amputee suing for employment discrimination was not disabled because she had a prosthetic limb.
“The pattern here is he has repeatedly denied other victims the justice that he rightfully received, and that’s what the ad is about,” Benenson said. “For all that’s been said, one thing that hasn’t been contested is that everything in this ad is absolutely true, correct and accurate.”
The Abbott campaign dismissed Benenson’s remarks as an attempt to distract from negative reaction to the commercial.
“This ad has been eviscerated by both sides of the aisle and no amount of desperate spin can rescue Sen. Davis from the rightful criticism she has received over her offensive decision to air this spot,” Abbott spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said in a statement. (Houston Chronicle)
