Abbott Mask Mandate Lifting Could Be Decoy
and Reaction to Loss to Romney in CPAC Poll

Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
March 2, 2021

LUBBOCK - Governor Greg Abbott traveled on Tuesday to the West Texas city with the sixth worst record in the nation during the coronavirus crisis to announce his second attempt at a reopening with the elimination of restrictions on businesses and an end to the statewide mask mandate.

Abbott used at a photo op at Montelongo's Mexican Restaurant to unveil of Executive Order No. GA-34 in a move that sparked cheers from local officials and businesses despite the potential for trouble by ignoring warnings from doctors and science.

Abbott's trip to Lubbock had all the makings of a classic red herring - an event that was designed to distract attention from a separate crisis like the governor is facing for his part in the Texas power crash two weeks ago.

But the new decree - coupled with its timing and location - raised the specter that Abbott might be trying desperately to save a presidential campaign that he's envisioned in 2024 after a goose egg on Sunday in the straw poll at the CPAC meeting in Orlando.

Abbott may have determined that he needed to shore up support among the conservative base that Donald Trump controls after tying former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and moderate Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker for last place at 0 percent apiece in a question on who they prefer as the next GOP White House nominee. Trump, who'd appeared to have an iron grip on the conservatives at the Florida pep rally, had a disappointing showing with only 55 percent in the CPAC poll that his team tried to portray as a major victory.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was second with 12 percent while South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem had 4 percent, former South Carolina and UN Ambnassador Nikki Haley polled 3 percent and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Senator Ran Paul of Kentucky were tied with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz in fifth at 2 percent each.

But U.S. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah beat Abbott in the Conservative Political Action Committee conference straw poll with 0.3 percent as one of the most hated elected officials on the hard right.

Abbott suggested that he'd decided that the time to open Texas 100 percent had come with the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine and new treatment therapies that helped curb the fatality toll from infections.

But Abbott could have rescinded the restrictions that he's had in place since last spring without the lifting of the statewide mask mandate that he issued in early July after Texas had erupted into the nation's epicenter and number one covid burial ground.

The decision to put an end to the mask requirement could backfire substantially among retail businesses like Texas icon H-E-B whose employees will be at substantially greater harm as a result of Abbott's new order.

Abbott offered no logical explanation for the ditching of the statewide mask order beyond the decision to effectively override the experts based on his own timeline.

Democratic local leaders like San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg chastised the governor for the new order that he said would culminate in more lost lives in the Alamo City.

"It is a bad call that unfortunately will cost lives in our communities," Nirenberg, said. "They're taking away our first layer of defense.",

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said local leaders across Texas were "dumbfounded" with Abbott's call on masks.

"It's mind boggling given where we are," Adler said. "It's hard to find a medical professional that would tell you anything else."

more to come ...

 

 

 

 

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