Here we go.

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis and her advisers have begun informing influential Democrats that she intends to run for governor in 2014, according to multiple sources familiar with Davis’s conversations. [...]

Davis advisers declined to confirm that she will enter the governor’s race, but Davis consultant Hector Nieto said the senator has made up her mind about 2014 and will unveil her plans next week.

“Sen. Davis has decided what she will do and she looks forward to making that announcement with her grass-roots supporters on Oct. 3,” Nieto said.

I have to first say that I'm disappointed that Davis has sought the advice and counsel of the Matt Angle brain trust.  This man and his acolytes -- last responsible for the glittering state party chairmanship of Boyd Richie -- have filled the yawning leadership vacuum in this state for much too long.  I was hoping Battleground Texas might be growing up enough to wrest control of things away from them.

Davis really does need some people who have won some races, which is to say no Texas-based consultants with any real authority.  (This is the nicest thing you will ever read me write about political consultants.)  Trust that I will be critical of her campaign if I disagree with it.

But no matter what happens, Davis amps up the wattage for 2014 to a national intensity, brings along a few of her Senate colleagues on the ticket, and lifts the boats and the spirits of Democrats down the ballot and across the Lone Star State.  None of that is a bad thing.

What is a bad thing is the "baby-killing Barbie" bullshit that's already flying in from the starboard side.  Fourteen months of that garbage is going to try men's and women's souls.

I promise to keep things fair and balanced; every time I read something derogatory from a child doll fetishist about a woman's reproductive freedom, I'm going to post a cripple joke.  I was forced to start early with the payback, if you recall.

Texas Monthly's already got General Scooter on the cover.

I thought he had two legs?  Who pushed him out in the middle of that field?  Must he wear a seatbelt or a harness when he fires that shotgun in order to avoid dumping himself out of his chair?

Anyway, things should be lively going forward.  Despite the senator's moderate record overall -- never mind, once again, what Mark Jones says -- I'll host some moneybomb efforts and make a small contribution myself.  And that will be because the right wing freaks in this state need to be made to understand that they aren't going to be in charge much longer.

Update (9/29): Thanks to Mike at Crooks and Liars for including this post in his roundup. Those visiting here for the first time might also want to see here for the latest development in the Texas governor's race.

Things I would rather not blog about

-- Ted Cruz ruining my Green Eggs and Ham, because the moral of the story zoomed over his head.  If this putz is the smartest TeaBagger in the country, then what's the real problem?  Why, it's that all the rest of them are so much more stupid than him, of course.

-- Greg Abbott filing his thirtieth lawsuit against the Obama administration, this time over a UN treaty.  Another guy who panders to the worst elements in society -- conservatives clinging and crapping their pants in fear of 'the other' -- because he understands that these morons can be manipulated so easily that he can ride that wave right into higher office.

-- Meanwhile, in a nation where Democratic base voters are yet to be fully convinced that voting in every election could, you know, change things like this... Republicans brag about the fact that they won't.  (This also factors into the reasons why elected officials think the people who elected them are more conservative than they actually are.)

Republicans are literally daring us to vote them out of office at this point.  Because they don't think it will happen.

-- I'd also rather not blog about Ben Hall's latest teevee commercial, because while it's less weird and more on target than his previous efforts -- a politician who became a millionaire while in office is a legitimate, populist, and effective argument against career politicians -- Ben Hall is just the wrong messenger.  It doesn't matter how hard his tail hit the ground when it fell off, either.

It does make me want to vote for the Socialist or the Green, however.  Somebody who's actually not capable of being bought off.

But keep in mind that Parker and Hall are sitting on fat wads of cash, they don't like each other a lot, and your television and mailbox are on the verge of being inundated with their focus-grouped, consultant-produced slime.

You want to know the worst part?  People will still be led to believe that the best way to evaluate a politico's electoral prospects is to see how much money they can raise.

Now do you see why I didn't want to write any of that?