http://www.texastribune.org/texas-newspaper/texas-news/brief-top-texas-news-oct-3-2012/

I wish it hadn’t come to this. Former Democratic Texas state Rep. Paul Sadler and former Republican state Solicitor General Ted Cruz engaged in a debate last night and Sadler resorted to cheap name-calling.

“What you don’t do is do your job as a legislator worried that some troll will come along 10 years later or 20 years later and try to run a campaign against you,” Sadler said of Cruz, his opponent in the race to become the state’s next U.S. senator.

I always thought Sadler was better than that. Remember when Gov. Ann Richards referred to George W. Bush as a “jerk” back in 1994 when she ran for re-election. That was an unseemly utterance and it might have played a part in Bush defeating Richards that year.

It’s not as though Cruz and Sadler are locked in a tight match. Every poll under the broad Texas sky shows Cruz is the prohibitive favorite to take the seat held by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Some have seized on the troll comment as a shot at Cruz’s height; he’s a good bit shorter than Sadler. Let’s not go there. No, the troll reference merely is a gratuitous bit of petulance that should not have become part of what is supposed to be a serious public policy discussion.