Sen. Ted Cruz was discovered to have slipped off to Mexico<\/a> on Wednesday night, only to announce his return when he was caught in the act. Gov. Greg Abbott came under fire over his leadership<\/a> and misleading claims<\/a> about the causes of the power outages. And former Gov. Rick Perry suggested Texans preferred power failures to federal regulation, a callous note in a moment of widespread suffering.<\/p>\n It\u2019s more than just a public relations crisis for the three politicians. The storm has also battered the swaggering, Texas brand of free-market governance that\u2019s central to the state\u2019s political identity on the national stage.<\/p>\n “Texans are angry and they have every right to be. Failed power, water and communications surely took some lives,\u201d JoAnn Fleming, a Texas conservative activist and executive director of a group called Grassroots America, said in a text message exchange with POLITICO.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Texas electric grid is not secure,\u201d said Fleming, pointing out that lawmakers \u201chave been talking about shoring up\/protecting the Texas electric grid for THREE legislative sessions (6 yrs),\u201d but \u201cevery session special energy interests kill the bills with Republicans in charge … Our politicians spend too much time listening to monied lobbyists & political consultants. Not enough time actually listening to real people.\u201d<\/p>\n Chad Prather, a popular Republican humorist who is running for governor against Abbott next year, echoed similar sentiments about the three politicians.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that this is a case of failing to relate to the people of Texas,\u201d said Prather, who is a host on the conservative network Blaze TV.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe the person with the biggest consequence is going to be Greg Abbott,\u201d Prather said. \u201cThe underlying murmur is that he, too, will make a presidential run and the governorship has become much of an afterthought. It would seem we are a little vacant at the top. At least that\u2019s how many feel.\u201d<\/p>\n One Texas GOP official, who did not want to be on record criticizing three of the state\u2019s top Republicans, deadpanned that \u201cthis is not our party\u2019s finest hour.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Abbott said the governor is focusing on the crisis, not politics, and is trying to find a solution.<\/p>\n Abbott has called for an investigation of the state\u2019s main power grid, Electric Reliability Council of Texas<\/a>, which was once a source of laissez-faire pride because it\u2019s heavily deregulated and separate from the federal power grid. On Thursday, Abbott called for winterizing the power grid to keep wind turbines and natural gas in pipes from freezing \u2014 an idea recommended a decade ago<\/a> after the last severe winter storm, when Perry was governor.<\/p>\n Abbott\u2019s moves follow widespread criticism<\/a> for an appearance with Fox News\u2019 Sean Hannity in which he echoed a misleading claim<\/a> attacking renewable energy as a root of the problem. Perry did the same thing in a blog post<\/a> on the website of U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, but then went an extra step.<\/p>\n \u201cTexans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,\u201d Perry wrote. \u201cTry not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n Unmentioned by Perry: He was governor in 2011, when experts recommended winterizing the power grid. Perry went on to run for president in 2012, then was reelected governor two years later, ran unsuccessfully for president again in 2016 and served as then-President Donald Trump\u2019s secretary of Energy from 2017 to 2019.<\/p>\n George Seay, who served as finance chair for Perry\u2019s 2012 presidential bid, said that he opposes the \u201cfinger-pointing\u201d over the storm response and believes Abbott is unfairly being attacked, but that the current governor needs to take some responsibility for the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cLeaders have to say, not only is this unacceptable, not only is it a dereliction of duty to Texas citizens and their public safety and the common good, but we have to fess up for that,\u201d Seay said. \u201cThe governor is not a power generation expert, but he needs to raise his hand and say, \u2018I\u2019m responsible for this.\u2019 It\u2019s not fair to him, to be clear, but that\u2019s the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Seay said Cruz\u2019s decision to slip off to Mexico \u2014 only to announce his return when word leaked out and he drew harsh criticism \u2014 won\u2019t harm him nearly as much as his role in opposing the Electoral College certification in Congress on Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol. <\/p>\n \u201cIs he focused on issues that center on the good of Texas? Not really. He\u2019s focused on running for president in 2024 and political machinations,\u201d Seay said. \u201cThe blame-seeking and circular firing squads we\u2019re seeing is not helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to contrast Republican leadership in Texas with President Joe Biden\u2019s administration, which quickly offered full federal help and earlier pitched plans<\/a> to upgrade infrastructure, counter climate change and expand the use of renewable energy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s Abbott\u2019s failed response or Cruz\u2019s abandoning of our state, we shouldn\u2019t put people in charge of government who don\u2019t believe in government. They fail us every time,\u201d said former federal Housing Secretary Juli\u00e1n Castro, a Democrat who\u2019s considering a bid against Abbott or Cruz. <\/p>\n Cruz\u2019s short-circuited Cancun trip<\/a> made him the biggest target of all. His habit of attacking politicians for taking time off during a disaster<\/a>, his mocking of California for its power woes<\/a> and his letter to Biden last week<\/a> to keep the U.S.-Mexico border as closed as possible due to Covid have all come back to haunt him.<\/p>\n Democrats sought to heighten the contrast between Cruz and his 2018 Senate opponent, former Rep. Beto O\u2019Rourke, by pointing out that the senator went to Cancun and tweeted about the death of radio talk show host <\/b>Rush Limbaugh while his former rival stayed in El Paso and tried to marshal his social media followers to help fellow Texans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely important in governing and politics to be seen doing things,\u201d said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas Republican strategist. \u201cIt\u2019s important to be seen leading.\u201d<\/p>\n Steinhauser said Abbott established himself as a leader in previous crises but took longer after the storm because he \u201chad to find his footing. At first, he probably didn\u2019t think the blackouts would last as long as they did.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Perkins, a Republican data analyst and pollster in the state, said there\u2019s lots of anger and frustration to go around.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no playbook because the state has never seen a winter like this in its history,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cThe cities are saying to boil the water, but there\u2019s no water coming out of the faucet. Use gas to boil the water, but wells are freezing, so conserve gas. The state leaders are attempting to give the public the most updated information, but it\u2019s difficult since there isn\u2019t a historical manual on what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"AUSTIN,](\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/e9\/53\/9e59750f4c0390ec647f76eb6fb8\/gettyimages-1231190186-c.jpg\")
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