A day or so I wrote an article in which I opined that a genie popped out of a bottle and offered to turn you into anybody else on earth, Greg Abbott might not be in your top ten. Or even your top 100. Abbott is s typical, traditional GOP schmuck lost in the world. He keeps trying to pander to Trumptards, with absolutely no idea of what makes them tick, and as a result not only pisses off Trumptards, he pisses off his own constituents. All of which earned Abbott a far right primary next year from whack-a-mole Allen West.
But it just got even worse for Abbott, a lot worse. You all know the story. Abbott and the GOP legislature tried to pass a mammoth new voter restriction bill, in a state already so restrictive that it’s easier to get a PhD in chemistry than a voting card. In the waning hours of the legislative session, the Senate sent the House a bill with two little time bombs in it. One would basically obliterate souls to the polls by restricting polling location times on Sunday, and another that would allow a state judge to overturn the results of an election based on an allegation of fraud. That’s right, not ironclad proof of fraud, just an allegation of fraud. At the last moment, the Texas House Democrats pulled a Wisconsin, walked off the floor and out of the building, and denied the GOP a quorum to proceed to a vote. The bill died on the floor at midnight when the legislative session expired.
In response to the debacle, Governor Abbott let his freak flag fly. Basically he had a Trumper tantrum. He screamed and yelled, threatened a special session to pass the bill, and signed an executive order that withheld pay from Democratic lawmakers. Nice try. Abbott himself signed the budget into law. And you can’t do a retroactive line item veto. And the Democrats know it, and so does Abbott.
But here’s where it gets worse for Abbott. Earlier today the Texas GOP unveiled the new proposal for their voting rights bill to be considered in the special session, and there’s something missing. Actually, two somethings. The new bill no longer contains either the corrosive restrictions on Sunday voting to cripple souls to the polls, nor the provision that would allow a state judge to overturn election results on a claim of fraud.
I don’t know how this can get much worse for Abbott. After all, this wasn’t some cockamamie scheme to placate Trombies, this was a deadly serious attempt to rig the ability to vote, deadly serious business for Republicans who are already in the minority, and sinking further every day. This is a matter of existential survival for a dying party. And Abbott blew it. The Democrats played chicken, and the Texas GOP swerved into the ditch.
Abbott was already in serious trouble with the primary from the right by West, but this goes far beyond that. Abbott was charged with passing more restrictive voting laws to ensure the survival of the Texas GOP, and he couldn’t do it. Which leaves a state GOP party wondering just how effective Abbott can be going forward. Don’t touch that dial.
Allowing judges to overturn election results without hard evidence would have gotten the Justice Department coming down on them like a 747 full of bricks. I think that dawned on the legislature, belatedly, and they need more time to figure out how to make it legal.
The TX GOP is nothing if not persistently stupid.
The change in voting hours on Sundays also is a non starter in the courts. The people with disabilities are also jumping in with their concerns. One thing Republicans know is that disabilities can happen to anyone. the mail in voting restrictions are a big concern for both parties. Voting by mail was big by democrats during the pandemic but during traditional elections voting by mail was dominated by republicans. only trumps anti voting by mail turned off republicans from that voting option. The bill that came out in the regular session was a mess, it was secretly negotiated between the house republicans and the senate republicans with no input from the democrats. No one had time to read the bill before it came to the floor. The democrats may have killed the bill by secretly disappearing, but there were lots of republicans who did not like the bill either.
Texas has three parties the crazy right, the sort of right wing middle and the democrats. The sort of right wing middle often works with the democrats to kill crazy bills from abbot and danny patrick.
Maybe we should give Texas back to mexico. We could use some good karma.
Give it back? It’s been supporting republicans for thirty years…why would we give it away five minutes before it flips to blue and changes the national partisan power structure forever?
I don’t know Rory. I’ve been waiting for the blue flip for a long time and I always think it will go that way every time TX’s legislature and guv do something asinine. So far I’ve been pretty disappointed. I figure there must be something in the air or water that makes Texans essentially idiots.
What in the name of all that’s holy did Mexico ever do to you that you’d punish the country like that? Mexico has enough of its own troubles without adding a bunch of far-right lunatics to the mix.
The statement about defunding the democrats is not quite accurate. His veto cancelled funding for all legislators and their staff. I figure that won’t last very long, at least I hope it won’t.