The latest convention is a continuation of a shift toward the right that’s been unfolding for at least two decades, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. Not all of the priorities will be converted into law, Jones added, but at least a few of them likely will. But once planks are adopted and priorities are created, he said, Republican lawmakers will face pressure to push forward that agenda during the 2023 legislative session. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, told the Observer that the state GOP’s platform is essentially a “symbolic wish list” for the party’s most devoted and die-hard activists. “What happened in Texas was a clown show, and I think even clowns were embarrassed by what they saw down there,” the Republican said Monday on CNN. John Kasich didn’t mince words when discussing the convention. Liberals, of course, were horrified by the items, but even some Republicans seemed shook by convention attendees' rampant homophobia, veteran derision and flirtations with secession.įormer Ohio Gov. Texas Republicans are in the national spotlight again, making headlines for the party’s uber-conservative platform considered at the GOP convention last weekend.
