I am glad you mentioned Abbott. He is who I would love to see on the ticket with Trump!
Abbott is a shrewd guy. He didn’t alienate himself from Trump voters the way DeSantis has. He also seems to have a penchant for thinking outside the box and knowing where and which battles to fight.
He has a couple of other things going for him.
1. The Wheelchair makes him look sympathetic to some women voters
2. He’s avoided controversy during his terms as Governor, nobody has anything really bad to say about him, even if they disagree with him.
3. He did a good job of walking the razor’s edge during COVID. He shut the state down but then opened it up quickly once the disease was found to be not as severe as first reported. The COVIDians can’t really criticize him or the anti-COVID people. Or if they can, then about equally.
4. He IS the national leader on border issues. This would play well in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and even California
5. While I like DeSantis’ policies and wish him well, he can come across as a Used Car salesman. Abbott has a much more low-key, for lack of a better word, respectable persona.
He isn’t running and hasn’t even talked about it, but I could see him being nominated at a convention if something happens to Trump.