“First you complained it was too cold, now you’re complaining that it’s too hot. There’s no pleasing you people!”
In the weeks since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school, Gov. Greg Abbott has declined to use the power of his office to call a special session, form commissions or issue executive orders to address school safety or gun violence.
Instead, the governor has issued at least eight directives imploring other Texas officials to take action…
…It’s likely a sign of the tense political climate and the governor’s unwillingness to upset fellow Republicans, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
…It’s also an election year, and Abbott is seeking a third term in Texas’ top post. He will face Democrat Beto O’Rourke, the former U.S. congressman from El Paso, this November — and a misstep in the Uvalde shooting response on either side of the aisle could hurt his re-election chances, political observers say.
…“The governor needs to demonstrate that he’s concerned and is doing things, but he does not want to take the lead on this,” said James Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. “When you take the lead, you have to answer questions about your choices.”
In strictly political terms, “there’s really no upside” for Abbott to take charge, Henson said.
…
My bold.
Inaction, waffling, passing the buck, refusing to do your job… THAT’S what Republicans call “leadership.” Part 2: if/when a Democrat takes action or even takes a stand, jump all over them and accuse them of being in league with the devil.
/Aside/
I’m a subscriber to the Express-News, my hometown paper. I urge everyone to subscribe to your own. It’s the only way to know what’s going on, and if local press dies, ghod knows what they’ll do.
Greg Abbott (before): How dare Beto O’Rourke try to politicize the gun-related murders in Uvalde.
Greg Abbott (today): Hold my beer why I politicize migrant murders.
What a shit the governor is. I didn’t like him in the first place, but blaming this on him for political gain is beyond low, because as anyone who’s paid attention to the news in Texas for the past 30-40 years knows, this kind of thing periodically happens during the summer, regardless of who’s in office.
Shockingly it happened under Trump and Abbott but nobody brings that up of course.
Whenever it happens, it’s always the current or most recent Democratic President’s fault.
Yes, I am becoming more bitter and cynical every day.
I also have to add that incidents like this one do show that Abbott’s shitty expensive continuing building of the wall, made “to enforce the laws”, is not working at all then.
But that is ultimately Biden’s fault, too.
I need to stop myself. Go have a cup of tea or something.
Its Bidens fault your drinking tea🍵
Well, it looks like enough people in Texas are getting on the Screw Abbott bandwagon to finally, possibly, make a difference:
Polls have shown a tightening, single-digit contest between Mr. Abbott, the two-term incumbent, and his ubiquitous Democratic challenger, the former congressman Beto O’Rourke. Mr. O’Rourke is now raising more campaign cash than Mr. Abbott — $27.6 million to $24.9 million in the last filing — in a race that is likely to be among the most expensive of 2022.
A separate poll, conducted by the University of Texas at Austin and released this month, showed 59 percent of respondents thought Texas was on the “wrong track,” the highest number in more than a decade of asking that question. Another, from Quinnipiac University, found Mr. O’Rourke within 5 percentage points of the governor.
Have y’all seen this? It’s delicious!
That acronym has to be thought out and deliberate, right?
Of course. It’s the cherry on top.
[big innocent eyes] Totally accidental [/bie]
Eh, comes across as too flippant to me. Seems like the kind of ad that makes political consultants clap themselves on the back about how clever they are without really changing anyone’s mind.
Beto’s having a good run recently, but I wouldn’t start getting too hopeful just yet. He raised more than Abbott last quarter, but Abbott still has a big cash-on-hand advantage. And the Republican get out the vote machine in Texas is unparalleled. Still, he’s within striking distance, which is more than can be said for the last four or five Democratic gubernatorial candidates.
Plus their “keep out the votes we don’t want” machine…
I’ve been playing too many old games recently, so my brain instantly went “MAGA Gear?!”
Texas also has no limit on individual campaign donations, so Abbott is likely to get some big checks towards the end of campaign season.
If they haven’t already spent all their money on Trump.
…
“In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Abbott said in a news release. “I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”The back and forth is steeped in political tensions as the Republican governor — running for reelection and considered a potential presidential candidate — tries to show that Democratic mayors are not as sympathetic to the plight of migrants as their party claims to be. Abbott’s critics have said he is using migrants as pawns in a cynical plot that does little to actually solve border problems.
…
Well, dang-- Republicans aren’t interested in solving problems. No news there.