Abbott isn't stupid. He understands that the far-right base controls the primaries, and he has to appeal to them if he wants to get re-elected. And much of the far-right base does not think the government should make pragmatic, economic decisions when responding to the pandemic, in the name of freedom and individual responsibility.
Yet Abbott knows that most Texans want an effective governmental response to the pandemic, in the name of health and general welfare, so he let local governments make the decision. He didn't care that it made him look weak. He felt that was a good middle ground. Perhaps he even thought it was a good thing.
But because his response was weak, Covid got out of control last summer, and he was forced to impose the state-wide mask mandate. The base was pissed, and they apparently just don't care that it worked.
When the vaccines started rolling out, and it looked like we were going to beat this virus, he decided to show some strength and ban mask mandates. His base loves authoritarians and centralized power, and they cheered him.
But he acted too soon. He didn't effectively consider the number of imbeciles who wouldn't get vaccinated because they read something on the Internet, and now he's painted himself into a corner.
On second thought, maybe Abbott is stupid.
Never mind.