The Great GOP Disconnect

[Elderberry]

Texas Scorecard by Matt Rinaldi September 6, 2019

The grassroots understand they won’t always get the results they want, but honesty and ethics are non-negotiable and not part of some political game.

“The grassroots are upset because they’re being told to be upset.”

Of all of the statements from the now-infamous recording of the conversation between House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Rep. Dustin Burrows, and Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan, this stood out to me more than any other because it explains the alternate reality many of our legislators have been attempting to craft since the beginning of the 86th Legislative Session and the resulting disconnect with conservatives who just aren’t buying it.

Though Burrows made the statement, I can attest as a former legislator it is one which several legislators have made to me in one form or another, and one which most Austin political insiders believe wholeheartedly.

It explains why GOP legislators believed they could sell the biggest do-nothing session in recent memory as a conservative victory, even while Democrats and the liberal media loudly celebrated. It explains why numerous legislators released coordinated statements urging us to move on after the speaker issued a non-apology “apology” that ignored his most egregious ethical lapses and potential violations of law. It explains why state GOP leaders are considering throwing gun owners under the bus in a special session. It is prototypical projection, they assume conservatives operate the way they do—top down, unprincipled relativism dictated from on high. They believe there is no right and wrong, there is no principle, there is only what people are told is right, wrong, or principled.

The 86th Legislative Session sales push made that clear. In an apparent misunderstanding over the meaning of “Pride Month,” legislators spent all of June telling voters how proud they were of themselves for the recently concluded session. In fact, it was an obvious and dismal failure.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/commentary/commentary-the-great-gop-disconnect/

[Smokin Joe]

That disconnect is a top down feature of the GOP at present, otherwise, the wall would have been there, Obamacare would be repealed, and much more, rather than McConnell talking about gun control.