With Dum Fuqs for Texas voters ...

That's my biggest takeaway from the latest "Should R.F. O'Rourke run?" piece.

Strangeabbott's continued relatively high poll ratings perplex me. A Jesuitical hair-splitter with a perpetually pouty face? I guess he looks good because he's placed next to the likes of Danny Goeb, Kenny Boy the Walking Indictment Paxton, and Jeebus Shot Sid Miller, on one hand, and the two-dimensional Pee Bush and the featherweight Dade Phelan on the other among statewide Republicans, while the relatively sane Glenn Hegar gets forgotten about.

With Joe Straus gone and two Speakers in two terms, you've got the featherweight new speaker, the featherweight of a family that seems ever. more featherweight, and wingnuts wingnuttier than Strangeabbott.

I mean, Abbott's poll approval numbers are high enough there has to be a few of the dreaded independent voters who like him to offset the set of Rethuglicans who either think he's not wingnut enough on some issues or who else hate him over the early months of COVID for "hating their freedoms."

That said, Texas Politics showed his numbers sagging a bit in late August and now officially underwater. Morning Consult shows him just slightly above. Both came out before the abortion bills shit hit the fan, though.

Newsweek has more on the Texas Politics poll. Abbott is slightly underwater on banning mask mandates in general and well underwater on banning school mask mandates, or trying to.

The second takeaway is "if not Beto, who?"

Seriously.

The Castrol brothers are both out.

Matthew Dowd has indicated interest in Lite Guv only.

The other Matthew, McConaughey, could wind up as Matthew McConman, either running as an indy or not at all. (Right now, my odds are 45 percent not at all, 30 percent indy, 25 percent Dem.) 

Harris County head Lina Hidalgo is a first-termer. Not enough statewide knowledge. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is perhaps moderately better known, but not a lot.

We gonna get Conservadem MJ Hegar?

The third takeaway is the ongoing mystery of how Gilberto Hinojosa continues to be the head of the Texas Democratic Party.