One of the odder story lines in this oddest of political years involves somebody who’s not on the ballot.

The question at hand is whether George P. Bush is about to become the next Garry Mauro, sort of.

Follow me on this (I know that’s sometimes difficult). This is a rumination rooted in the notion that when ex-Land Commissioner Mauro’s political time had come his party’s time had gone.

We may be fixing to find out if when current Land Commissioner George P. Bush’s political time comes (defined for our purposes here as a gubernatorial race or something like that) his family’s time will have gone.

Mauro, a longtime Democratic operative, held one elected office, land commissioner from 1983-1998, and worked his way to the pinnacle as his party’s 1998 gubernatorial nominee. Once upon a time, in a century not that long ago, being the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Texas pretty much guaranteed you’d be the Democratic governor of Texas.

By the time Mauro got the nomination it had been devalued to the point of sacrificial lamb. He was trounced in 1998 by then-incumbent Gov. George W. Bush, who properly saw Mauro as a minor speed bump en route to the White House.

Fast forward to the only branch of the Bush family tree now in elected office, George P., who is George H.W.’s grandson, George W.’s nephew and Jeb’s son.

Pretty good political pedigree, right?

Not unlike the planet in general, Bush the Latest’s future is inevitably linked to the political fortunes of one Donald J. Trump of New York City. Trump, you probably remember, said very bad things about Jeb Bush when the ex-Florida governor was in the 2016 GOP presidential nominee chase. "Low energy," Trump branded him in a brand that stuck.

Somewhere along the way, George P. (who got more votes that any Texas statewide candidate in 2014) was picked to head Victory 2016, the Texas GOP’s coordinated campaign for November. It’s kind of a no-win gig, like when the Texas Longhorns play an early season football game against North Southeastern Wyoming Tech and Muffler Shop. You’re expected to win big and anything less is big trouble.

Recent polls show Trump winning Texas, but not by as much as a GOP presidential candidate is supposed to win Texas. Footballwise, the recent poll result translates to Texas 21, North Southeastern Wyoming Tech and Muffler Shop 17.

Like many establishment Repubs (and what’s more establishment Republican than being a Bush?) George P. has had trouble navigating the political minefield that is Trump. In June, George P., through my colleague Jonathan Tilove, said he couldn’t, at that time, endorse or vote for Trump.

"I, along with others, are not in a position to endorse at this time because of concerns about his rhetoric and his inability to create a campaign that brings people together," George P. Bush said.

Nothing much about Trump has changed, but George P.’s position on him has, as enunciated at a recent Austin meeting of the state’s GOP county chairs.

"I know a lot of us in this room had dogs in the fight in the primary leading up to the race," he said (and does that make his dad a dog?). "But you know what? It’s time to put it aside. And you know for Team Bush it’s a bitter pill to swallow but you know what, you get back up and you help the man that won and you make sure that we stop Hillary Clinton."

Yes, that’s probably what you do if you think that’s the best path for your own political future. You be a good soldier while perhaps hoping Trump loses nationwide, carries Texas and turns out to be a one-year diversion before the GOP carries on post-Trump as it had pre-Trump.

But what if Trump wins and the GOP moves on to a new and decidedly different path, one in which perhaps the Bush name is devalued? For establishment Republicans, these are nervous times.

George P’s partial-throated Trump support (the land commish’s schedule prevented him from attending the recent Trump rally in Austin) stands in stark contrast to the strategy adopted by other Repubs (See Cruz, Ted). The success of either strategy is inextricably linked to how Trump does in November, both in Texas and nationwide.

The significance and potential impact of George P.’s statement in support of Trump came as 50 Republicans of note, including folks from the Bush White House administrations (H.W. and W.),were signing on to a list released a few days later in which they said Trump would be the most reckless president in U.S. history.

This all leaves George P., — whose political future long has seemed so bright because of his talents, the family name and his Hispanic mom — in a potentially uncomfortable place. Could he be the first in his family of first families to have the family name potentially become a negative?

It’s worth watching.