Gov. Greg Abbott is charting a high-stakes conservative course through the pandemic, forcing him to navigate between influential activists motivated by new restrictions and a rising death toll
Even though Abbott has promised to open the state, he’s only taken piecemeal steps to-date such as putting together a task force of industry executives, mostly campaign donors, to weigh when to lift the ban on “nonessential” businesses.
But he’s already closed schools for the remainder of the semester. And many conservatives are unimpressed by his attempts to throw meat their way by declaring abortions nonessential procedures and allowing churches to remain open while urging congregants to maintain social distancing measures. “He seems indecisive, he seems timid, he seems bureaucratic and he seems tone deaf to the concerns of so many Texans,” said Matt Rinaldi, a former Republican state representative who is part of the movement to open the state. “Alabama’s taskforce has already completed their work. Why weren’t we doing this weeks ago?”
Abbott has to constantly negotiate a raucous coalition of urban, suburban and rural conservatives that spans homeschoolers, anti-vaccine advocates, religious activists and business groups for a party whoseAbout 58 percent of Texas voters trust Abbott to give them information on the virus, compared with 44 percent who say they trust Trump, according to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll released Friday.
“It’s certainly accurate to say that Abbott is a measured and deliberative conservative,” said Ray Sullivan, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Rick Perry and a senior communications aide to George W. Bush, as governor. “When you are engaged in a high-profile public policy matter and you are getting flak from the left and the media and even the further right groups on the spectrum, you are usually in a good place from a policy standpoint.
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