Struggling to raise children.

Persevering through an undergraduate degree program.

Fighting to make it in the big bad world.

This is the story of countless Americans and immigrants; this is the story of countless Texans; this is the story of state senator and gubernatorial-hopeful Wendy Davis.

Recently, supporters of Republican frontrunner for governor Attorney General Greg Abbott exposed facts about Davis’ life prior to her career in politics that reveal misgivings Davis made about her story.

Let’s be direct: Davis lied. 

Facts were misrepresented, like the age in which she was divorced, how long she lived in a trailer, who paid for some of her undergraduate education and her time at Harvard Law and the details regarding custody of her children and the divorce from her second husband. 

The fact that Davis represents the greatest opportunity for Democrats to return to the governor’s mansion since former Gov. Ann Richards is insignificant.

In a national political atmosphere in which over two-thirds of state capitols are under single party control, Davis presents an opportunity to divide one of these one-party ruled states.

Obviously Republicans have not forgotten that this is a real possibility, given their unmistakable efforts to take the focus off the politics and attack Davis’ personal story.

Supporters of Davis attack Abbott because he wastes taxpayers’ money on lawsuits against the Obama administration; he’s a gun rights blowhard who just slandering Davis because she is a true representative of the majority of Texans. 

Supporters of Abbott believe that since Davis lied about the basic facts of her personal story then she will deceive Texans if she becomes governor.

Why do these two viewpoints even matter? 

They matter because they represent the two-sides of the same misguided coin. One person sees through a red lens, the other through a blue one.

If they stopped for a moment and looked through the lenses together, they might notice a reality that goes well beyond the two dimensions in which they currently see.

Beyond these differences of ideology, behind a “blowhard” and a “deceiver,” there is a reality that the politically-informed miss.

This reality isn’t the myth that by working together they will see things for what they really are. The reality is that we have no chance of making government work by, through and for the people if we don’t at least try to see things from both sides.