Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 2022 electoral strategy has been to deal with his primary opponents to his right and not worry about swing voters in the general election. So he's moved further and further right and is polling well against the neo-fascists lined up against him... but at a steep price among normal people. According to a new Dallas Morning News/University of Texas poll, 54% of Texans say the state is on the wrong track and only 45% approve of Abbott's job performance.
Yesterday, Texas had the most COVID deaths in the country, 315 (bringing the state's gruesome total to 62,361)-- more deaths yesterday than the second and third most deadly states, Alabama (161) and Arizona (108) combined. Every day Texas and Florida trade off who has the most new cases. Yesterday, Florida has 9,806 and Texas had 9,528. California has more than 10 million people than each of them but just about half as many cases. California is mandating predations; neither Florida nor Texas is.
50% of Texans are fully vaccinated-- but that's because of high rates in non-Republican areas like Travis Co. (60%), El Paso Co. (62%), Fort Bend Co. (60%), Cameron Co.(62%), Starr Co. (65%), Webb Co. (68%), Presidio Co. (78%)... The solidly Republican counties are where the problem is. 27 counties have fewer than 30% of their residents fully vaccinated. Guess what they all have in common. Trump won mammoth landslides in every one of the. You know, it's funny, one Breitbart crackpot, John Nolte, suggested that liberals are pushing the vaccine so hard so that Republicans won't use it-- owning the libs-- and all die. Let's hope:
King Co.- 14% fully vaccinated (95.0% Trump)
Gaines Co.- 17% fully vaccinated (89.3% Trump)
Loving Co.- 18% fully vaccinated (90.9% Trump)
Newton Co.- 21% fully vaccinated (80.1% Trump)
Motley Co.- 22% fully vaccinated (92.6% Trump)
Martin Co.- 25% fully vaccinated (86.0% Trump)
Roberts Co.- 26% fully vaccinated (96.2% Trump)
Lipscomb Co.- 26% fully vaccinated (89.1% Trump)
Crane Co.- 27% fully vaccinated (83.0% Trump)
Sherman Co.- 27% fully vaccinated (89.3% Trump)
Collingsworth Co.- 27% fully vaccinated (86.0% Trump)
Borden Co.- 27% fully vaccinated (95.4% Trump)
Dickens Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (86.3% Trump)
Dawson Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (77.9% Trump)
Howard Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (78.6% Trump)
Panola Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (81.4% Trump)
Live Oak Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (83.1% Trump)
Delta Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (83.4% Trump)
Upshur Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (83.7% Trump)
Oldham Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (90.9% Trump)
San Jacinto Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (80.4% Trump)
Shelby Co.- 28% fully vaccinated (79.1% Trump)
Cass Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (79.2% Trump)
Hutchinson Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (87.5% Trump)
Bowie Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (70.9% Trump)
Eastland Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (87.2% Trump)
Carson Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (89.0% Trump)
These counties filled with morons is what Abbott is targeting his messaging-- and his policies-- towards. He is probably assuming that Texas' Republican lean will save him from either Beto O'Rourke or actor Matthew McConaughey if he decides to run, although it isn't clear if he would run as a Republican, a Democrat or as an independent (which would split the anti-Abbott vote and guarantee him a second term). This morning Axios broke the news that Beto is running. The new poll how's that he narrowed the gap between himself and Abbott from 33-45% to 37-42%.
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