James Moore: he Texas primary has turned into a bad Netflix series

(James Moore is a political analyst, author and business communications consultant who has been writing and reporting on Texas politics since 1975. He is the founder of Big Bend Strategies and publishes regularly at Texas to the World.) The big lie is alive and well in Texas. Many of the Republican primary candidates running for statewide positions are repeating former President Donald Trump's lies that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. Perpetuating this lie might be key to maintaining electoral viability in the Texas GOP, especially since polling indicates that Republicans overwhelmingly think Biden is an illegitimate president. According to a recent online survey by The Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, 67% of the state's Republicans believe Trump won, along with 33% of independent voters. GOP primary candidates in Texas are also displaying an alarming fealty to Trump as they clamor for his approval and fight among each other to pander to his supporters. Few high-profile Texas politicians have publicly stepped back from the former president's claims or his ideologies.

In the Republican race for state attorney general, the incumbent Ken Paxton is facing off against Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and Rep. Louie Gohmert. Paxton is currently the frontrunner, despite a securities fraud indictment dating back to 2015 that remains unresolved. He also faces allegations of bribery and corruption from his former staffers. (Paxton, who has sought to cast the accusations from his staffers as sour grapes, denies any wrongdoing.) In 2020, the embattled attorney general filed a failed lawsuit to challenge Biden's election victory -- a move that probably helped Paxton endear himself to Trump, who endorsed him over Bush. In a sad display of desperation, Bush, the heir to the family's political dynasty, tried to cozy up to Trump to earn his favor -- even though the former president had publicly insulted his parents. It didn't work. And now, without Trump's endorsement, Bush seems to be settling for the next best thing -- engaging in an argument with Guzman over who most supports Trump's favorite project, the border wall. Endorse Trump's policies even though he won't endorse you? There's a tactic that shows the fight among candidates to out-Trump each other.