'Bradleyland': Anatomy of a Meltdown?

Having in a past life worked as a professional opposition researcher in more than five dozen campaigns, I've had the opportunity over the years to watch more than my share of politicians melt down under pressure, both my own clients and opponents, during heated campaigns. And there are signs that's what's happening with Williamson County DA John Bradley, judging from this TV news report from KVUE, which I saw via the Wilco Watchdog. There we find a bizarre claim by Bradley that his electoral opponent, County Attorney Jana Duty, initiated the pending grievance against him at the State Bar, which he went on to deny even existed ("not a grievance but a complaint on a piece of paper which he says came from Jana Duty"). In fact, Jana  Duty did not file the grievance. As Grits reported here, it was a woman named Julie Oliver from a group called the Texas Coalition for Lawyer Accountability. See their press release.

The Watchdog sees this odd divergence from the facts as evidence that John Bradley's "Road to Damascus" moment, as Grits called it in this post, may be short-lived:

Grits reported a few weeks back a story on John Bradley’s election year transformation. It was titled “On the Road to Damascus: The Conversion of John Bradley?” One line from the post stated “Any such optimism regarding Bradley's newly announced conversion, though, should for now remain measured. He’s got a long record, and it will take more than a few words of humility to get everyone to believe that he’s had some road to Damascus moment.'"

Bradley was also quoted as saying “It would be very easy I think for me to get upset, bitter, and just react to all of that stuff but I’ve never really approached things that way.”

It appears Bradley’s road to Damascus moment just hit a dead end and he has exited back to “Bradleyland.”

The Watchdog adds that "Sources close to Bradley have stated that he is in complete 'panic mode' and is 'desperate' to salvage any remaining hope in being re-elected." This faux pas certainly sounds like desperation to me. I'd have thought JB was smarter than to just begin flailing and making stuff up. Issuing unfounded attacks you'll inevitably have to retract isn't the way to make up ground if the incumbent DA hopes to salvage his reelection chances between now and the April 3 primary.