Kudos to Greg Abbott for coming out in favor of the DREAM Act (or, at the very least, reforming it), which the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor were quick to denounce in their recent debate. It is the misfortune of Republican candidates to have to deal with base voters who are willing to drag down their party by alienating one of the state’s most important group of voters. Abbott himself does not exactly have an unblemished record when it comes to dealing with Hispanics—remember the Voter I.D. and redistricting battles—but at least he recognizes the political peril of continuing to ignore a group of voters who in many ways are potential Republican voters, due to their patriotism, family values, religious faith, and work ethic.