Abbott eschews red meat at debate with Valdez

There was something missing at the only debate of the Texas gubernatorial campaign Friday night: red meat.

Instead, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott presented himself as a successful steward of a thriving state, eschewing any sharp attacks on long-shot Democratic rival Lupe Valdez, who portrayed Abbott as unwilling to provide adequate funding for public education and too ready to appeal to racial fears with what she called the state's show-me-your-papers law.

The hourlong debate at the LBJ Presidential Library covered a lot of territory but lacked the bite of the previous Friday's U.S. Senate debate, in which U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, battled over who was more in tune with Texas values.

It was the kind of restrained performance one could not imagine Cruz, whose strategy is to polarize the electorate and drive up turnout by the conservative base, or Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, executing.

READ: Julián Castro in Austin: If I were to run for president ...

"Abbott’s strategy last night was to focus more on his talking points than his rival, and his talking points were directed far more to the November electorate than to Republican primary voters," Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said. It's an obvious general election strategy, but in Texas — where the key has been appealing to the hard-core Republican base to win a primary that has been generally tantamount to the final election — it stands out. And, amid the cacophony of the current political moment, lowering the rhetorical temperature might be the prescription for appealing to the political middle.

So Abbott, who has been known to tweet with a Fox News edge and raise money sounding the alarm about a potential socialist takeover of Texas, was content Friday night to project an image of successful centrism.

His message, Jones said: "He's a reasonable person who is focused on bread-and-butter issues like the economy and public safety," a message reinforced by campaign ads striking the same themes.

"There was no doubling down on Second Amendment rights, attacking illegal immigrants, no derision of Obamacare," Jones said.

It was noteworthy that Abbott made clear that not on his current political agenda is a bathroom bill, legislation spearheaded by Patrick to regulate bathroom use by transgender individuals that did not pass in two legislative sessions last year.

READ: Are Christi Craddick's deep ties with oil and gas a conflict of interest?

Unlike the Senate race, the gubernatorial contest is not considered competitive. Four years ago, Abbott defeated his well-funded Democratic opponent, then-state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, by 20 points. This time, Abbott's campaign would like to improve upon the 20-point margin, albeit in a year that is not likely to be quite as kind nationally to Republicans as 2014.

Just before the debate, Texans for Greg Abbott announced it had raised $5.5 million dollars in the reporting period from July 1 to Sept. 27, and had more than $26.5 million cash on hand as the campaign enters the final month. As of June 30, the last reporting deadline, Valdez's campaign had $222,000 in the bank.

Wayne Thorburn, who served as executive director of the Texas Republican Party from 1977 to 1983 and wrote the book, "Red State: An Insider's Story of How the GOP came to Dominate Texas," said Saturday that Abbott might be trying to do what George W. Bush did in 1998, looking for an overwhelming victory to build his personal brand.

In 1998, Bush, who four years earlier had won the governorship by defeating Ann Richards, a popular incumbent, 53 percent to 46 percent, crushed his Democratic rival, Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, winning 68 percent to 31 percent, on his way to winning election as president in 2000.

Sanctuary cities, taxes, Hurricane Harvey

Both Abbott and Valdez, a former Dallas County sheriff, have strong personal narratives.

At debate's end, Abbott, who was paralyzed after a tree fell on him while jogging in Houston, said Texas was a place where a young man who was "broken in half" could become governor. Valdez praised the state as a place where a Latina could go from living in the poorest ZIP code in San Antonio and picking crops with her family of migrant workers, to becoming the Democratic candidate for governor.

Jones said there was nothing to be gained for Abbott to go after Valdez and risk generating sympathy for her.

Unlike the rest of the party's statewide ticket, with the exception of Cruz, Abbott showed his opponent the respect of debating her, but at the debate he mostly ignored her and, left largely alone, Jones said, "She didn't sink, but she didn't shine."

Valdez sought to portray Abbott as fear-mongering with a bill banning sanctuary cities. But Abbott, who has played the issue hard in the past and has disparaged her line of attack as its own brand of fear-mongering, left it alone Friday night. His campaign tweeted a January quote from Valdez, saying she didn't think enactment of the law "is really going to be a big change in Texas."

READ: Michael Avenatti promises corroborating witnesses for 3rd Kavanaugh accuser

At the Republican State Convention in June, Abbott teased Valdez on her failure to pay her property taxes on time on some rental properties in Dallas.

Asked about that at the debate, Valdez said she wanted to avoid raising rents for her tenants and that she did as other Texans do when dunned by multiple financial obligations and extended her payment of her property taxes without ever becoming "delinquent."

Abbott simply said he always paid his property taxes on time, just as he makes sure Texas always pays its bills on time to retain its stellar financial rating.

Abbott stressed his commitment to action on what has been his top unfulfilled legislative agenda — limiting property tax increases.

Valdez blamed Abbott for what she said was the state's failure to pay more for public education, "pushing the burden down" on property owners.

Valdez faulted Abbott for calling a special session for a "bathroom bill" but refusing to call a special session to tap the state's rainy day fund in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

"He called a special session on bathrooms but not when people were dying," Valdez said.

But Abbott said Texans would recall his hands-on command of the Harvey rescue and recovery effort and that the state, without having to call a special session, obligated sufficient money that will be replenished from the reserve fund in the next session.

Guns, marijuana, immigration

In the aftermath of the church and school shootings during his tenure, Abbott said he supported arming teachers or other school staffers to protect schools, without mandating that anyone do so. Valdez said teachers are already overworked and underpaid.

"Teachers should be teaching, not being armed and being the defense," Valdez said. "If they wanted to be armed, they should have gone to the military."

The two candidates disagreed on the merit of enacting a red flag law, which permits police or family members to petition a state court to take firearms away from individuals who may pose a threat to themselves or others.

"I would not support a red flag law that takes guns away from people without due process," Abbott said.

"There is due process," Valdez said. "Red flag laws are meant to stop people doing harm to themselves or others."

On marijuana, both candidates said they were in favor of moving toward decriminalization.

Abbott said he didn't want to see the jails crowded with people caught with small amounts of marijuana.

"I would be open to talking to the Legislature about reducing the penalty for possession of 2 ounces or less from the Class B misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor," Abbott said.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: Our Lone Star Politics page brings Capitol news to your Facebook feed

Valdez said voters should decide on legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Abbott said he would work with the Legislature in the next session to take down a plaque in the Capitol that claims that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War, but that the Legislature put it up and it was up to the Legislature to take it down. Valdez said she would take it down.

Valdez supported maintaining in-state tuition for Texas students lacking legal immigration status at public colleges and universities, saying the state needs to make sure that unauthorized immigrants are prepared to make the maximum contribution they can to the state.

"The legislators who passed that Dream Act, they had a noble cause behind what they were seeking to do, but here was a flaw in the structure of what they passed," Abbott said. "The law that passed said these students who receive in-state tuition had to demonstrate that they were on a pathway to achieving the legal status. However, there is no apparatus in the law to make sure that is, in fact, being done. Hence, the law as structured is flawed and has to be fixed."

It was a retread of an oblique critique of a law deeply unpopular with the GOP base, but it was as close to red meat as Abbott got Friday night.