In a state where their dominance has bred complacency, it’s the GOP that has the most to lose when words outpace wisdom.
By Ronell Smith
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Michael Hogue
Whenever Tarrant County GOP chairman Bo French makes headlines with incendiary remarks — like his since-deleted post on X regarding dipping his bullets in bacon grease — I’m reminded of the late economist Herbert Stein’s warning: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”
Pork is forbidden in Islam, and the post, now deleted, was a dog whistle to dehumanize Muslims.
For decades, Texas Republicans have maintained near-total control of state politics, delivering undeniable benefits: economic growth, job creation and relative affordability. But hard-line policies, tolerated corruption and a growing reliance on provocation over persuasion could threaten the very coalition that made that success possible.
Members of both parties see a potential shift on the horizon. One side seizes on it to raise money and hope, while the other watches with unease, wondering how much further things can go.
After French’s most recent comments, more than a dozen conservative friends from across North Texas reached out for my thoughts. One friend, a lifelong Texan and a 30-year volunteer in statewide Republican politics, sent a blistering text:
“These idiots are going to ruin our party, and Texas with it. How could he be so stupid?”
A pattern, not an outlier
French’s rhetoric might be exhausting, but it hasn’t diminished either his enthusiasm for stirring outrage or his standing within the party. In June, he was rebuked by top Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, for an X poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed the bigger threat to America. But while the poll drew condemnation, French was neither censured nor forced to step down.
French later suggested that Rep. Salman Bhojani,D-Euless, who is Muslim, was attempting to “further jihad” by traveling to Pakistan during a showdown over redistricting. Never mind that Bhojani said he was attending to a family emergency.
To dismiss these remarks as merely divisive or bigoted misses the broader truth: French is doing exactly what the system rewards. And both parties know the playbook.
Perverse incentives
Years ago, I sat down with a prominent GOP figure in Texas politics and asked why Republicans seem obsessed with hammering Democrats on social media instead of focusing on issues like tax reform, grid reliability or border security. His answer was blunt: “Of the top five issues that Republican voters care about, among them taxes and the border situation, always inside the top three is ‘publicly fight the Dems.’”
The base doesn’t just tolerate performative combat; it demands it. Many voters won’t remember the bills their representative passed, but they’ll remember the viral video of them owning the libs.
This perverse incentive structure now shapes both parties. French’s comments were rightly denounced by some Republicans, yet many of those same leaders enthusiastically support national figures who engage in similar or worse behavior. Meanwhile, prominent Democrats remained silent after Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s appalling “Hot Wheels” insult toward Gov. Greg Abbott.
You don’t get to feign moral clarity while ignoring your own side’s rhetorical sludge.
Republicans, however, are most vulnerable because these antics no longer redound entirely to their benefit, as what once fired up the base now risks alienating suburban voters and independents who want ideas, not insults.
The costs of performance
Texas is not as red as many assume, and party leaders who ignore the shifting demographics do so at their own peril. On abortion, the state’s near-total ban is deeply out of step with the public. A University of Houston poll found that a majority of Texans, including many Republicans, support exceptions for rape and incest.
On guns, the disconnect is just as glaring. After mass shootings in Uvalde and Allen, polls showed bipartisan support for raising the minimum age to purchase certain rifles. Yet state leaders have moved in the opposite direction, loosening restrictions and banning red flag laws.
Even the economy, long the GOP’s strongest card, is showing cracks. While Texas continues to lead in job growth, Texans are increasingly being priced out of housing in major metros.
The unraveling won’t be visible, until it is
Taken together, these pressures illustrate what French’s outbursts only dramatize: A party that once projected strength through pragmatism is now holding together a coalition with culture wars and grievance politics. Yes, Republicans still win, and win big, but many of those victories are papering over the erosion of a broader, more durable mandate.
For now, the party is buoyed by a lack of viable statewide Democratic candidates. But history says that dynamic won’t last. The GOP’s dominance in Texas cannot go on forever if its platform continues to drift further from the values and concerns of the voters it claims to represent.
The longer party leaders treat social-media combat as virtue and allow grievance to become a governing shibboleth, the more brittle their majority becomes.
And if Stein was right, it won’t last.
Ronell Smith is a business strategy consultant and a former Southlake City Council member. He is a Dallas Morning News contributing columnist.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
