Blogs: May 2020

The thorough politicization of the laws governing the voting process is deeply rooted in attitudes in the electorate among both Republican and Democratic voters. The result is that an opportunity to find common cause at the crossroads of public health and civic aspiration has instead devolved into endless trips to court amidst a dispiriting replay of the long history of turning the franchise into something more akin to extracting back pay from a stingy boss than exercising a constitutional right.

A trio of letters sent from the Texas Attorney General’s office to the leaders of three of the state’s major metropolitan areas again raised the public tension between the limits on religious practices contained in public health measures undertaken to contain the spread of coronavirus and the protection of religious liberties. That tension, however, may be more acutely felt by elected officials navigating party politics and personal rivalries than it is by most voters.

The coronavirus disproportionately affects people of color. And judging by what voters said in the last University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, it's evident that Texans of color express greater concern about it.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott met briefly with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office today to talk about COVID-19 in front of a sign titled “Provided to Texas.” While the White House seems to want to convey to Texans that Trump and the federal government have done things right by the state, Texans’ have already formed some attitudes on the matter. In the recently released April 2020 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, Texas assessments of how the two chief executives and the different branches are performing during the intertwined public health and economic crises facing the state are consistently higher for Abbott, and Texas state and local governments compared to Trump and the federal government.

Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dennis Bonnen Tweeted himself back onto the radar screens of the Texas political class today with an 11-part thread attacking “our largest home improvement superstores.” There’s no payoff in paraphrasing just how sharp his attack on esteemed institutions in GOP strongholds across the state was today; only direct quotes will do.