Obama was roundly ridiculed at the time for his “pay grade” dodge, but in his defense it can be said that abortion wasn’t a signature issue of his campaign and he was doing his best to minimize the issue in a high profile setting and move on.

The same cannot be said of Davis. Her entire political raison d’etre is her staunch support of abortion rights. And not just abortion rights in a general sense: Last June she stood on the floor of the Texas legislature for 11 hours arguing in support of a woman’s right to abort her baby after 20 weeks. That is a position well outside the mainstream, as Democrats often say of Republicans, and it is certainly outside the sensibilities of most Texas voters.

Yet, despite being hailed by Democrats and members of the media as a feminist role model and a woman of courage who stood up to “speak truth to power,” Davis essentially refused to address the question of when life begins.

Fudging details of her resume is one thing. What is far worse is being too cowardly to give a straight answer, let alone a thoughtful one, to a straightforward question that goes to the heart of a matter she has made the signature issue of her political life.