MorgueFile 

AUSTIN — They like Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch; the tweets, not so much. 

And all things considered, the fact that a promised border wall remains unbuilt and health care is unreformed, calls to a small group of randomly chosen Texas GOP leaders reveal comparatively positive feelings about Donald Trump, the candidate who is now a little over six months into the presidency.

That’s a contrast to the Quinnipiac University national poll numbers released last week, in which 61 percent of American voters disapproved of the job President Trump is doing. 

“So far everything has been right in line with what Texas GOP voters want to see,” said James Dickey, Republican Party of Texas chairman. “Those who were concerned that he wouldn’t be conservative enough seem incredibly encouraged.”

Trump carried Texas in 2016 by a less-robust margin than voters here have given recent Republican presidential nominees in the general election, and some officials’ enthusiasm is more muted than Dickey’s.

“He did neglect to drain the swamp,” said Tammy Blair, who chairs the Cherokee County GOP in East Texas. “I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s going to happen.”

“I’m not sure, because of his lack of experience, that he knows where the problems are,” said Blair, who voted for Ben Carson, now secretary of housing and urban development, in the primary election.

But Blair doesn’t blame not passing a big legislative agenda on Trump.

“If we’re not seeing legislation that we want to see, then we need to put that on the backs of Congress,” Blair said. “He doesn’t have a Congress that wants to work with him.”

Misgivings aside, Blair said she’s “pretty comfortable” with the president.

“I’d give him a C, and I’d tell him he’s grounded from Twitter.”

Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist, said Trump’s failure to push through major legislation has led to a short honeymoon that’s now over for some supporters. 

But seating Gorsuch, a strongly conservative jurist, on the U.S. Supreme Court was “not a trivial matter,” for the White House. 

And in Texas, pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord and appointing Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency played well with Republicans. 

Dickey, who said the Paris agreement would have been a “devastating” blow to Texas’ economy, praised “massive deregulation” that boosts Texas’ energy sector.

“I would absolutely say on everything within his control, he gets an A,” Dickey said. “That’s focusing on policy and results.”

As for results on a key campaign issue, the border wall between Texas and Mexico, Jones said that if it remains a “photo op wall” and doesn’t affect the movement of goods and services, “it won’t have any effect” on Texas support.

Still, Jones said the president is likely to be something of “a drag” on the Texas GOP come the next elections, at least in districts with large Latino populations and those with large numbers of highly educated Anglo voters who tend to have more negative views of Trump.

But, the administration has fixed big problem by appointing John Kelly as White House chief of staff, and has maintained the support of those who elected him.

“You have to give him a reasonable grade for consistency,” Jones said. “At the same time, he’s behaved remarkably un-presidential.

“I’d give him a C, but I’d take half a grade off for bad behavior and give him a C minus.”

Mark Hutchins, chairman of the Hunt County GOP, was leaning toward a C too.

Hutchins was torn between Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio in the primaries.

“I’m not a big fan of what he’s doing on social media,” Hutchins said. “This Russian thing has been mishandled.

“But when you look at … the Supreme Court, a lot of people voted for him on that alone. He could almost have appointed a Supreme Court justice and gone home.”

Hutchins eventually gave Trump a B.

A higher grade would require fixing immigration and dismantling the Affordable Care Act — tough goals.

“People understand you’ve got a significant challenge to legislation,” Hutchins said. “The Republican Party is pretty dysfunctional.

“I don’t think we’re at buyer’s remorse yet. Give it another six months or a year.”

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jaustin@cnhi.com.