The Next Governor of Texas?

The Next Governor Of Texas?
By Michael Warren
The Weekly Standard

There’s a small crowd munching on tacos and tortilla chips here at El Pato, a local chain restaurant in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. We’re a short drive from the Mexican border, in a part of the state that’s nearly 90 percent Hispanic. The folks here are noticeably whiter (or more Anglo, as Texans would say) than that, but plenty of Hispanics have shown up, too. Fifty-six-year-old Greg Abbott, the powerful attorney general and Republican nominee for governor, is discussing how years of incredible economic growth are transforming Texas. He makes sure to mention the state’s fastest-growing demographic group.

“People are streaming across the border every single day,” he says. “And you know who they are.” The room falls uncomfortably quiet. Where’s he going with this? “They are Californians,” he deadpans, breaking out into a big smile.

The tension releases, and everyone laughs. It’s a carefully planned joke, part of a carefully planned campaign. Abbott tells me that he likes to make jokes that disarm voters, to make them think he’s going one way before he veers off in a different direction. He’s got another one he tells often, and it definitely doesn’t start off funny.