I live next door to this district and your exactly right, Taylor went negative from the get go! Not once have I seen a Taylor ad that doesn't attack Edwards.
Taylor comes off looking like the spoiled rich boy, while Edwards, in the few positive ads he runs, comes off looking like the down-home neighbor!
Just my observation...Taylor will do well in the urban areas, but will lose because of the rural areas of the district. I drove through Grimes County the other day...tons of Edwards signs...only one Taylor sign!
Edwards come off as a nice guy which he actually is in person. He is a very personable individual although politically he is dead wrong on most issues.
Taylor comes off as a jerk and has since the Republican primary. We could have done better and Tucker Anderson would have had an excellent chance to get rid of Edwards.
District 17 should be a GOP stronghold but, until we have a good candidate to run against Edwards, it will remain Rat.