Two months ago, I wrote about how Texas is turning blue because Trump and the GOP govern like Democrats. Despite the protestations coming from the citizens of Trump Fantasy Land — a magical place of rainbows and MAGA hat-wearing unicorns — it appears my analysis was right on.
Using the 2018 mid-terms as a starting point, I showed how Ted Cruz’s narrow victory was a harbinger of the difficulties that lay ahead for Trump and the GOP in 2020. And I documented how even though Texas Republicans swept every state-wide election in 2018, Democrats had several state-level victories, so many, in fact, that Senator John Cornyn — who faces re-election in 2020 and carries a 33% (F) Liberty Score® at Conservative Review — expressed his concern that Texas may no longer be “reliably red.”
“We are, I think, no longer the reliably red state we have been,” said Cornyn. “We are at risk of turning purple. And if we don’t do our job, then we could turn blue in the coming years.”
Of course, not doing the job they were sent to Washington to do is the reason Trump and the GOP are in trouble, not only in Texas but in several key states needed to win in 2020. It was, after all, on a road paved with GOP broken promises the Democrats drove their way to victory in 2018.
Unfortunately, ahead of 2020 Trump and the GOP are resurfacing that road using black-top made from the recycled lies of 2016, so things are looking good for another smooth road to victory for the Democrats.
As was the case in 2018, a recent rash of House Republican retirements indicates a party in distress which could be a sign of another blue tsunami in 2020. And Texas could pay a heavy price. For example, last week Rep. Kenny Marchant became the twelfth Republican — the fourth from Texas — to make a retirement announcement.
Ironically, there are Texas Republicans who sound as if they understand the party’s difficulties. Yet, when it comes time to put up or shut up on policy outcomes, they play right into the Far-Left’s hands.
For example, in a Politico.com article about the GOP’s likely “drubbing” in 2020, Rep. Brian Babin said, “Republicans need to be very concerned about Texas. Texas is definitely in play. We need to take this very, very seriously.”
Solid advice, but it’s little more than 2020 election politispeak. How else do you explain Babin’s role as the co-sponsor of the House version of the Threat, Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act — a “pre-crime” gun control law he calls “a proactive solution … to prevent future tragedies?”
When you consider how Texas is notoriously pro-Second Amendment, could it be that Babin is one of the Republicans responsible for turning the Lone Star State blue?
Polling continues to show Trump’s weak political standing, raising Republican fears that his name at the top of the ticket will be the final act in their comedy of errors (H/T Bill Shakespeare).
Only no one will be laughing … except for the Democrats.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative.
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