People from Texas: What kind of support/approval do this guy and his ideas have among Texas voters?
He currently sits at 50% disapprove/41% approve overall. But that’s not necessarily an indication of where he stands with likely voters.
Well, all my friends hate his rotten guts, but then I only hang out with libruls.
My bold.
More importantly, “voters whose votes are likely to be counted.”
Thank you. You know, I see “my fellow Americans’” lack of response th the pandemic, and it really bums me out. If I lived in Texas and looked around at my “fellow” man, and realized that these crazy ideas had widespread support, I’d be straight up depressed.
Redistricting will be the big issue during the next special, but this is the fourth time this year (including the regular session) that Republicans have specifically targeted trans kids. Abbott could have let the issue drop. But he just can’t resist beating up on a marginalized group over a nonexistent issue if it’ll get him some sweet social conservative cred.
Wow, big jump in disapproval in August, I wonder what happened? When is the next election so these chickens can come home to roost.
People, elections aren’t going to matter in Texas any more! That’s the point!
Why didn’t he do this before? Sounds like Abbott supports rapists.
No, they still matter. The primaries anyway. He’s up for re-election next year.
He’s making a bid for lowest common denominator among the Republican field. And finding that he may have sold his soul only to be booted out by mouth-breathing Trump worshippers anyway.
That’s the beauty of these new laws that let the legislature overturn elections that they think are fraudulent. If they win, they stay in power. If they lose, there was obviously fraud and they need to take over the election process and name themselves the winners. The legislatures we have now are essentially there until they decide to leave and after that they can decide who will replace them. Except, of course, for democrats who will be replaced by more desirable candidates at the next election. Truly any state with a republican legislature is screwed and is now doomed to republican control for eternity.
What I’ve seen is: Used to be, the crazy conservatives were mostly rural country folk. But now they’re seeping into the inner urban areas. My neighborhood used to be (seemingly) all Liberal. Not any more, my neighborhood is peppered with Trump flags.
Elections still matter, even in Texas. Yes, the recently passed legislation puts a thumb on the scale that will disadvantage Democrats. It reigns in opportunities for early and mail-in voting, as well as assisting voters in registering and getting to the polls, that disproportionately impact urban and minority voters. But the Legislature has not (yet) passed legislation that would allow the state to overturn election results on trumped-up “fraud” allegations.
As theater, maybe. 
Emphasis on the “yet.” That is surely coming.
Nitpick: “reins.”
“it reigns in opportunities”
“it reins in opportunities”
“it rains in opportunities”
It trains in opportunities also.
Or most importantly for him, voters in the primary elections. That’s what a lot of this is about, especially the bizarre executive orders. He’s getting primary challenges from Allen West and Don Huffines, both of whom are considerably more right-wing than Abbott, and are campaigning with the contention that Abbott is not a “real” Republican, and accusing him of being a RINO. And also more insane stuff like we should get rid of property taxes, “Stop giving Illegals our money”, etc…
So I’m sure Abbott feels like he’s got to show his Republican credentials, and this lunacy is the result, whether it’s executive orders, or more or less unfettered passage of crazy bills.
He actually wasn’t that bad as Republican governors go, until Trumpism became a thing, and the pandemic hit. Both of them seem to have made him take a pretty hard right turn.
At times like these, I’m always reminded of a scene from The Edge, a late nineties flick where Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins are lost in the Alaskan wilderness and being stalked by a bear. [Stick with me here 
] Baldwin’s character is at the point of despair and ready to give up. Hopkins yells at him, “Should we lie down and die? Should we lie down and die?! You want to die out here, then die. But l tell you what… l’m not gonna die. No, l’m gonna kill the bear.”
I’m just a prone to despair over what’s happening here in Texas, but realize that’s part of the intended effect. That Democrats will be so dispirited that they won’t bother to jump through the new hoops to vote, and Republicans won’t need to resort to further shenanigans to hold onto power. A minority can only keep a majority down for so long, especially if the majority keeps fighting.
Anyway, I mostly just wanted to take the opportunity to reference The Edge. That’s a great movie.
Option C, encourage the bear to secede from the Union and let it die from COVID.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think that this meant that some of us need to pull back into New England just to maintain a Democracy that we can be proud to raise our kids in.
( My accent may suck at first… by I learn quickly… )