Texas politics’ Paxton & Miller show no longer a laughing matter

Paxton & Miller — isn’t that the morning show on that sports talk station?

Or were those two of the names on Real Housewives of Dallas?

Actually, there is nothing funny about Ken Paxton or Sid Miller right now, and Texans may be more familiar with their names soon.

Although few Texas voters seem to realize it, Paxton is the state attorney general. The McKinney lawyer is working while free on $35,000 bond awaiting both a felony criminal trial and federal civil hearing over a securities fraud investigation dating to his days in the Texas House.

Miller, a Stephenville rancher and rodeo calf roper, is also the state commissioner of agriculture. He seems unlikely to avoid some punishment over two tax-funded 2015 trips to Mississippi for the National Dixie Rodeo and to Oklahoma for a pain injection with a steroid-vitamin compound nicknamed the “Jesus shot.”

If I’m not mistaken, neither Jesus nor the high holy Tea Party leaders in Texas approve of securities violations or wasting public money, so I would normally expect an outcry for Paxton to step aside until a trial and for Miller to either ’fess up or ride into the sunset.

Instead, Texas Republicans seem to be taking all this in stride. Maybe they’re numbed by the recent flimsy court case against Gov. Rick Perry. Or maybe they’re waiting for the supermarket tabloid version.

The only elected official who seems concerned is Gov. Greg Abbott, who said through a spokesman last week that Miller’s spending deserves a Texas Rangers investigation.

Southern Methodist University political science professor Matthew Wilson wrote by email: “I don’t think voters are really focused on either of these scandals right now, given all of the drama in the presidential races.”

He saw Paxton as more endangered with Texas voters — he is facing both state and federal cases “on more fundamental questions of character.”

But voters really didn’t pay much attention to either Paxton or Miller to begin with.

Paxton had already paid a $1,000 civil fine in a state securities case, calling it an “error.”

Miller was lifted into office by campaign co-chairman and chief fundraiser Ted Nugent.

As down-ballot state officeholders, TCU political science professor Jim Riddlesperger emailed, they’re “beneath the radar of most voters, and in a presidential year they have an even lower profile. … [Their] supporters will likely dismiss any charge as simply politically motivated.”

But SMU professor Cal Jillson considered Miller more politically vulnerable.

“Judging by Governor Abbott’s reaction, tepid though it has been, Sid Miller is expendable, while Paxton may not be,” Jillson messaged.

“Abbott is always timid in regard to the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, but outside the Tea Party, among traditional Chamber of Commerce Republicans and independents, Paxton does vastly more damage to the Republican brand the longer he remains in the legal spotlight.”

I guess Texas Republicans are just busy right now. They’re trying to keep things patched together while the national party careens toward a cliff over the presidential nomination.

As for Democrats, Jillson wrote: “Democrats should sit back, quietly if they can manage it — smile, wait, and enjoy.”

Paxton and Miller are Texas’ newest political spectacle. Don’t miss the next show.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Texas politics’ Paxton & Miller show no longer a laughing matter."