Texas is having a rip-roaring primary season, with six of the seven statewide executive offices having no incumbent and the one with an incumbent (the Lieutenant Governor's race) still hosting a hotly-contested primary on the Republican side.
One race that's flying under the radar, largely because it's essentially uncontested (yes, there are two candidates running, but one of those candidates has a grand total of $2,000 CoH), is the race for Land Commissioner. George P. Bush is running, and if you recognize the name "George Bush," congratulations, you aren't an idiot.
In the absence of opposition, though, GPB has been running an almost nonexistent campaign. Apparently he feels that campaigning is beneath him, because of fucking course Texas Republican primary voters are going to vote for someone with his last name regardless of whether he's actually qualified for the office he's seeking or not. (Don't believe me? Have you been paying attention, at all?) GPB is seen by a lot of folks as the party's future, because in addition to having the name "George Bush," his mother is Mexican. So he gets to check the "Hispanic" box! How can you go wrong?
“Our state’s values are under attack. And this attack is being led by one man and one man only. His name is Barack Obama,” he said. “And now he has his ideological soul mate, in the name of Wendy Davis.
Look, not that I expect a Republican or especially a Bush to say anything smart or true or in touch with reality. But this is symptomatic of the problem that Republicans have with Hispanics (and, well, any group that is not "old white men.") Want to appeal to Hispanics? That's easy; say the exact same shit you've been saying, but have a Bush with a Hispanic mother saying it instead of an old white man. Or Ted Cruz.
Want to appeal to blacks? Well, that's what Allen West and Herman Cain are for.
Want to appeal to women? Have Marsha Blackburn mansplain why abortion and birth control are evil.
Young people? Paul Ryan is over 40, but the media seems to think that qualifies as "young."
Gays? Oh, dear, that's a bridge they won't cross, but one of these days there WILL be a gay Republican who believes in "traditional marriage." Actually, there are probably quite a few closet cases, so I take that back.
You're starting to see the problem here. GPB is probably going to win the Republican primary for Land Commissioner because duh, and he'll probably win the general election because it's Texas, but I sort of doubt that he'll win much more Hispanic support than your standard-fare Republican. Because, well, he basically IS your standard-fare Republican, only with a Hispanic mother.
But most Republicans pretty honestly believe that having more candidates like GPB is what will help their party win Hispanic votes. And that is their problem. It's not that they aren't making an effort; it's that their effort sucks. (And basically relies on the belief that minority voters are inherently stupid and will vote for a person who shares their race, regardless of what they stand for... but what do you expect from the people who think that we only voted for Barack Obama because he's black?)