This week, Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texas candidates to sign a pledge promising not to cut police budgets.
Texas Democrats released a pledge of their own on Thursday, the “Texas First Pledge.”
“More than 191,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, including nearly 14,000 Texans,” read a news release from Texas Democrats. “Another 6.3 million Americans have contracted COVID-19. Right now, it is estimated that 18 million Americans are unemployed, including 3.4 million Texans who have filed for unemployment since March. Texans are fed up with bootlicker politicians and demand leaders who dare to stand up for our Texas values. It is time that our leaders show Texans that they have their backs.”
The pledge asks Texas to end “the political bullshit and put Texans first.”
The counter-pledge is a clever shot at Abbott’s political stunt, which is attempting to redirect public attention away from the pandemic, its economic consequences on Texans, and the bombshell audio of Trump admitting he knew the coronavirus was airborne and deadly.
The governor’s desperate attempt at misdirection went as far as cheering on a billboard that urged Texans not to visit Austin — a particularly cruel partisan enthusiasm considering so many businesses in Austin shuttered or are concerned about their future.
Abbott’s pledge is the type of patently hypocritical political pandering Texans have unfortunately gotten used to. While Abbott’s pledge implores Texans to “back the blue,” he has yet to offer any substantive solution to the fact that Texas leads the nation in coronavirus deaths for law enforcement officers.
Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Joe brings over a decade of experience as a political operative and creative strategist to Texas Signal, where he serves as our Senior Advisor and does everything from writing a regular column, Musings, to mentoring our staff and freelancers. Joe was campaign manager for Lina Hidalgo's historic 2018 victory for Harris County Judge and is a passionate sneakerhead.
