What is Abbot's embrace of Ted Nugent really about?

[cali]

It's about getting out the hate filled bigot vote. It's recognizing that minority votes are largely unattainable and going balls out for the white haters.

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Abbott’s snuggling up to Nugent is not about the Second Amendment or the Fourth Amendment or any part of the Constitution. It is about courting and stoking the absolute ugliest, most paranoid, most ass-backwards elements of the GOP coalition. We’re not talking here about garden-variety gun lovers or small-government enthusiasts or evangelical values voters. We’re talking about people who find it quaint when Nugent starts raving about how black people are lazy or how disgusting he finds gays or how Hillary Clinton is a “toxic cunt” and “a two-bit whore for Fidel Castro.” (Media Matters has a sprawling, multi-decade sampling of Ted’s greatest hits here.) We’re talking about people who find it hilarious when Nugent waves his little guns around and froths, “Hey Hillary! You might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.”

A great patriot indeed.

To be fair, Abbott is hardly the only prominent Republican to embrace the unhinged rocker. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the very man Abbott is looking to succeed, asked his good buddy Ted to headline Perry’s 2007 inaugural ball. (With a respectful nod to Texas’s increasingly diverse populace, Nugent showed up clad in a confederate-flag shirt and started talking smack about the state’s non-English speaking residents.) Nor are Texas pols the only Nugent courters. Even poor Mitt Romney sought Nugent’s (grudging) endorsement two years ago.

The morning after Ted and Greg’s road show, I emailed a handful of Republican strategists. Subject line: “Ted Nugent.” Question: “Why? That’s all I want to know. Why?” Not even the most conservative among them had a serious answer.

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Then again, maybe Abbott really is that clueless. At this point, Nugent has been spouting racist, sexist, generally insane invective for so long that the ugly particulars of any one rant quickly dissolve into his vast sea of lunacy. People tend to roll their eyes and give Nugent a pass because the ranting is seen as just part of his schtick. I mean, he’s the Motor City Madman, right? And, this being America, the guy can say whatever the hell he wants, right?

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/19/gop-s-wango-tango-with-ted-nugent.html

[Gothmog]

1. Greg Abbott is running a nasty campaign

I agree with the OP. Greg is appealing to the tea party base. Perry/Goodhair was very successful with this base in the past. In 2010, Perry/Goodhair refused to debate Bill White and won based on tea party turnout. I do not think that 2014 will be a tea party sweep year and that Greg is going to alienate a large number of voters with voter id and tactics such as calling Senator Davis some nasty names including abortionbarbie. If you have a strong stomach, search twitter using the hashtag #abortionbarbie.

BTW, I know Greg and is not that smart