MON brief 6.20.22

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Today’s Stories

The TEXAS GOP held its convention over the weekend.

Chairman MATT RINALDI was re-elected without opposition. By the time it happened, it was a foregone conclusion. Still, it's a remarkable development.

Conservatives now control the formal mechanisms of the party to the degree that the establishment can’t even drum up a sacrificial lamb. Add Rinaldi’s basic competence (unlike his predecessor) to the mix, and it’s a good place.

The general election is the easy season for a party chair in many ways. Everyone briefly ceases fighting to combat the external threat (no matter how exaggerated).

That the universally reviled BOBBY FRANCIS O’ROURKE headlines the 2022’s version of the Washington Generals, Texas Democrats make this job more manageable.

The real challenge, however, will come when the legislature returns. GOP convention delegates (Rinaldi’s electorate) just sent the GOP legislative caucus an ambitious wish list. Historically, GOP elected officials have been…less enthusiastic…about convention delegate priorities.

How Rinaldi manages this divide will determine the success of his chairmanship. It has destroyed his two immediate predecessors.

JOHN CORNYN, meanwhile, got the Bronx cheer over his anti-gun proposals.

Take a look through YouTube to understand how brutal this is for Cornyn.

That he showed up was a surprise. It would have been much easier to pull an Abbott. Indeed, Cornyn’s appearance explains why the Governor behaves the way he does.

It’s an open question whether Cornyn can be swayed. If he’s sway-able, does the pressure come from the grassroots or his caucus? If so, however, the optics of this past weekend couldn’t have gone worse for his cause.

THE MEDIA, bless their hearts, can’t stop pushing the same narratives.

FRENCH VOTERS are showing signs that the population is over ‘it.’ Look for England and Canada to follow the trend.

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