Could higher turnout from the presidential primary in March benefit establishment republicans down ballot? One political expert thinks so.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University known best for his academic study of Texas’ Legislature, told the Dallas Morning News the flood of information expected during the presidential primaries will create an opportunity for establishment republicans to utilize their historical funding advantage and target less-informed voters.
Actions from groups like Texas Conservative Roundtable – a cover-group for the republican establishment – give reason to believe Jones’ suspicions are justified.
Recently, TCR attempted to re-brand liberal republicans “Effective Conservative Lawmakers” while awarding the lowest scores to the most conservative members by cherry-picking a small number of votes cast throughout the past legislative session.
Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t escape the facts.
In a failed attempt to avoid an embarrassing backfire, TCR’s index was forced to exclude Democrats. That’s because more than two-thirds of House Democrats would have earned B’s or better, and been branded “Effective Conservative Lawmakers” based on TCR’s own scoring methodology.
We’ve previously covered how Jones’ non-partisan Lib-Con Index confirms the findings of the Fiscal Responsibility Index. But the liberal republican establishment’s own cherry-picked scoring system also exposes their collusion with Democrats and consequent disdain for conservatives.
Look for other deceptively named groups aside from TCR to rely on conservative-sounding rhetoric in order to prey on low-information voters during the March campaign cycle.
How should conservatives fight back? By informing your friends, family, and neighbors about all the races down the ballot and pointing them to information sources you trust.
