State GOP Turns Invasion Pressure Up
with Push Poll for Faithful to Take Sides
Capitol Inside July 28, 2022
The Texas GOP threw another wrench in Governor Greg Abbott's re-election campaign on Thursday with the hatching of a new interactive poll that gives grassroots Republicans an opportunity to weigh in on whether the state should invoke the war powers act with a declaration that an invasion from Mexico is under way.
"What do you think: Do the hundreds of thousands of people crossing our border every month without permission and with the help of brutal drug cartels constitute an invasion?" the Republican Party of Texas asks in the survey that it unveiled in an email with links to a page on its web site.
The first choice is "YES - WE MUST DECLARE AN INVASION" with "NO - LET THE INVASION CONTINUE" as the sole alternative. There is no option for party loyalists who don't believe that Texas is being invaded by a foreign power - no default answer like none of the above or the ability to explain a vote.
The Republican governor has resisted calls for a formal invasion decree, which could open an unprecedented can of worms amid the theory that Texas would be able to seize immigration enforcement from the federal government with such an order. Such a move has massive potential to backfire and probably would be destined to fail in court.
The state GOP wants Abbott to capitulate to U.S. Rep. Chip Roy - an Austin Republicans who's been leading the rhetorical crusade for an invasion declaration. Roy made a case for an invasion decree earlier this month with a tweet that cut to the chase.
"One metric matters - stopping the flow. That requires 1) Mexico to stop it and/or 2) turn away - removal," Roy explained in the social media post.
The state party survey is what's known in the political jargon as a push poll. This is an instrument that's employed to sway voters under the appearance of legitimate polling. The Texas GOP leaves no doubt which side it's on in the email trumpeting the poll.
"There is an invasion happening at our southern border," the RPT declared with the following bullet points.
* Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens unlawfully enter our country every month
* Truckloads of illegals are being found dead from heat exhaustion
* Women and children are being trafficked across the border by coyotes and cartels
* Law enforcement has even identified terrorists trying to sneak in through our open border
