January 30, 2018      10:45 AM
HK: Understanding the real stakes in the Abbott-Davis dustup
A hostile takeover of the House by bank-shotting the Speaker’s race, taking a page out of the plaintiff attorney playbook in the 80’s
After reading Editor Scott Braddock’s insightful piece about
the RPT
bank shot censure of Speaker Joe Straus
as little more than an effort to make his financial and personal support of
candidates radioactive, it highlighted the pincer effort currently employed by
some to intimidate and dominate Republicans in the Texas House.
Otherwise talented
Republicans in the Senate have already surrendered their independence out of fear
of the political and rhetorical skills of their presiding officer working in
tandem with Midland money and the social networking skills of Empower
Texans and other self-proclaimed conservative groups.
It also begins to answer
the most commonly asked question in political watering holes last week: “What
the hell is Greg Abbott doing in the
Sarah Davis race?”
The answer to that
reminded me of an old story told by cronies of Bob Bullock years ago. Although the story differs sometimes
according to the story-teller, the basic point is instructive.
By Harvey Kronberg
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