The Texas Republican Party’s executive committee voted by a two-to-one margin to go ahead with its plan for an in-person convention in Houston July 16 to 18. The 40-to-20 vote, after nearly three hours of debate, was influenced by the strong feeling among members of the state Republican Executive Committee that a virtual convention is a sorry alternative to the real deal — and that backing off on a live convention would be seen as surrendering to media brow-beating and to a pandemic that is not nearly as deadly as what they consider fear-mongers would have it.