Unlike his jet-setting predecessor or firebrand protégé, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has mostly stayed out of the national spotlight. It found him last week nevertheless.
The new governor, who followed Rick Perry into the mansion and served as a mentor to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, became a target of widespread criticism after ordering the Texas State Guard to “monitor” the U.S. military while it conducts training exercises, known as Jade Helm 15, which some Texans fear are a prelude to Obama-imposed martial law. …
Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas and a pollster for the Tribune, said that while Abbott’s approach may be “seen as distasteful and pandering,” it’s not “automatically a mistake.” “At this point, who is a more important constituency to a Republican Texas governor: the extreme right wing of the primary electorate whose suspicions of the federal government are easily stoked, or Jon Stewart and The New York Times?” Henson said. CONT.
Jay Root, Texas Tribune