Editorial: Holding Texas GOP convention now would be reckless – Austin American-Statesman

This is no time to funnel thousands of strangers into a convention hall. Especially not in Houston, a city that has become an epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Hospitalizations there have quadrupled since Memorial Day. The regions intensive care unit beds are nearly full. Local officials have implored residents to stay home.

The Republican Party of Texas should heed that call and cancel its in-person convention, slated for July 16-18.

Proceeding with such a large-scale gathering at this point would be unconscionably reckless not only for the roughly 6,000 attendees converging from all over the state, but for the Houston workforce that would be exposed to this mass of people.

After receiving a letter Tuesday from the Texas Medical Association urging the convention be canceled, Texas Republican Party chairman James Dickey indicated the party is evaluating its options. "We are taking all input from those involved with our Convention, including that from our Party leadership and our delegates, very seriously," Dickey said in a statement.

This shouldnt be a tough call. Not when Gov. Greg Abbott, the top Republican official in Texas, has already deemed gatherings of just a couple hundred people so risky that he has shuttered bars statewide. Not when Abbott has halted elective surgeries in Harris County because of the need to keep more hospital beds open. Not as long as the Texas GOP can do what so many of us have done in recent months: move meetings to video platforms.

Unfortunately, President Donald Trump has set such a toxic example on coronavirus response eschewing masks as weak or politically incorrect, barreling ahead with his Tulsa rally, even pressing to move the Republican National Convention to another state after the original host refused to welcome large crowds that Texas GOP officials are in a bind. Follow the president? Or abide by the science?

This isnt an abstract exercise. As Texas Monthly recently reported, Texas GOP activists have already lost one of their own to COVID complications: Former Kaufman County Republican Party chairman Bill Baker died in late June of a heart attack while hospitalized with the virus. He checked into the hospital just five days after attending his countys GOP convention, which drew a handful of people. Imagine if it had been the state convention, expected to draw thousands.

To its credit, the Texas GOP delayed its convention, originally slated for mid-May, over coronavirus concerns. More recently, though, Dickey has suggested that providing hand sanitizer, and encouraging social distancing and masks (though not requiring them), will do enough to keep delegates safe. Given Trumps dismissive attitude toward such measures, its hard to envision all of the party faithful will embrace them.

Some have suggested there is a double standard in calling for large gatherings to cease while Black Lives Matter protests have filled the streets. We see some important differences: The Black Lives Matter protests were spontaneous and urgent, a statement that masses of Americans could no longer tolerate the racism that colors policing. The protests were also outside, which experts say is less conducive to coronavirus spread than indoor arenas. Indeed, a recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found no evidence the protests led to a spike in cases. It's doubtful the same would be true of a massive indoor conference like the Texas GOP convention.

We recognize the Republican Party of Texas is loathe to cancel its in-person convention, particularly when part of the base believes the coronavirus threat has been overblown. But the worrisome spike in cases is real. The deaths of more than 2,400 Texans are real. The lasting damage this disease inflicts on some patients bodies is real.

No convention is worth this. The only option for a party that values peoples safety is to move the event online.

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Editorial: Holding Texas GOP convention now would be reckless - Austin American-Statesman