I admit, I didn’t see that coming!
Should have…
How the fuck did trump get elected?
Courtesy of Mr. D. Vermin:
That’s a good question. In 2014, when Rick Perry decided he was bored with constantly getting elected Governor, Abbott managed to clear the Republican field. I myself am not quite sure how he managed that – there hadn’t been an open race for the Governor’s office since 1994, the state was packed with ambitious Republicans, and Abbott himself didn’t really have much name recognition or political reputation despite being the AG. I think mostly it was a transitional time in the party - Ted Cruz had just been elected the cycle before, and every other statewide Republican officeholder would end up being replaced by a more conservative successor within the next couple of years.
By this point the Republican nomination effectively was the election for Governor in Texas, but Democrats made it easier by nominating Wendy Davis. As for why he keeps getting reelected, he’s a weed in the wind of conservative politics. Conservatives don’t really like or trust him, but they know he’ll bend to whatever they want if they make enough noise. Better him than a more principled, strong-willed conservative who might prove stubborn over some future disagreement. In the absence of a Democratic opposition, that’s all that matters.
IIRC, Abbott was kind of a shoo-in, in Perry’s wake. At voting time, the Republican primary consisted of Abbott, a hispanic woman, a loon secessionist, and a young black woman. He won with 91% of the primary votes. Most of the big guns at the time didn’t run (Pauken withdrew and Dewhurst did not run).
In the general election, it was him vs. Wendy Davis, whose primary claim to fame at that point was a filibuster vs. an abortion restriction law in 2013. Abbott won 59% to 38% in the general election.
So not as screwed up as how Ted Cruz got elected - he actaully lost the primary, but by a close enough margin to force a runoff, and then he won the runoff by basically capturing all the non-runoff candidates’ voters. (Dewhurst got roughly 44% of voters in both the primary and the runoff, while Cruz got 34% and then 56% respectively.)
The big problem is that sometime in the late 90s/early 2000s, the Republicans managed to get a stranglehold on the political process, and basically whoever wins the runoff has gone on to win the election. It’s such a problem that it’s not at all uncommon for Democrats and others who aren’t big party functionaries to go vote in the Republican primaries to either try and get the lesser of the evils, or to try and have a less strong candidate versus a strong Democrat.
On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled nearly 900 feet of newly constructed border barrier on state-owned land near the Rio Grande in Starr County, six months after he promised to finish what President Donald Trump started.
It was the first section of what’s expected to be a nearly 2-mile stretch of wall, and it followed a series of smaller-scale state attempts to block immigrants with chain-link fences, a row of shipping containers and even a boat blockade on the river.
But after the Trump administration managed to build just 21 miles of new border barrier on the 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border over four years (and also replaced 34 miles of older barrier), the state hasn’t publicly disclosed some basic information about Abbott’s wall-building plans.
Texas has set aside $1.05 billion for border barriers but hasn’t revealed where it plans to build them, how much each mile will cost or how it’s addressing the challenge of acquiring enough private land to fulfill Abbott’s promise.
…
My bold.
REAL good use of funds, Greg! 'Cause Texas doesn’t have any other problems that could be helped by throwing some a billion dollars at them, amirite?
Where’s the emoji that shows the Guv playing with himself? On second thought… never mind…
Good one!
Abbott can’t say anything about where the wall will be built because he’d have to use eminent domain to seize private property to build it. He says that he’s in “talks” with landowners to donate their land for the wall, but if they weren’t willing to sell or donate their land to Trump for his wall why would they do so for Abbott?
That is specific to Trump. For most males it is:
General purpose.
You misspelled 
(Which also works for Madison Cawthorn)
'Specially inasmuch as he going to be going solo now.
This is what I’d have done for Donny:
There are some creative people here. I’m glad you’re using your powers for good and not for evil.
(The urn is the “earthen vessel” he’s missing).
Reading between the lines, Abbott forced the Board of Pardons and Paroles to reverse its unanimous recommendation that he posthumously pardon Geoge Floyd for a misdemeanor drug conviction in 2004. Allegedly the reversal is due to “procedural errors” in the original recommendation, but I don’t believe that for a second. Abbott just didn’t want to be in the position of having to make a decision one way or the other, so he pushed his lackeys to make it go away. He’s such a weasel.
If history is any guide, all Abbott really needs is 900 feet of wall at/near the border and an outsized “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner hanging on it.
And a handful of press with cameras.
It worked for Shrub …
I suggested a mile-long potemkin wall for Trump and quietly syphon the rest of the money off for something important years ago but with a Republican majority in both houses it was just a fantasy,