Has the anti-Straus faction adopted a strategy of divide-and-conquer? That is, putting forth multiple candidates for speaker, which would muddy the waters and dilute the vote for Straus. The problem with this strategy is that neither David Simpson nor Bryan Hughes has demonstrated that he has the gravitas to be
That is how much Rick Perry has spent on recruiting companies to come to Texas—more than any other state in the country—according to the New York Times. Perry got a lot of attention for this story, but is it wasn’t the kind of attention that will benefit him
Well, good for him. The proposal is to use $1 billion from the fund for water projects and for highways. A billion doesn’t buy you what it used to, but it’s a start. Dewhurst also proposed setting up a bank for water and transportation projects. I think he and Craddick
It’s Chip Roy, who was the chief ghostwriter for Rick Perry’s Fed Up! Erickson is especially impressedthat Cruz did not turn to a K Street lobbying firm for a chief, as many new members do. Erickson writes: [The decision] signals Senator-Elect Ted Cruz is not going to Washington
Murphy ranks high on my list of the smartest political consultants in either party. His remarks appear in Time’s “Swampland.” I will publish a few excerpts: We Republicans cherish the free market. So now might be the right time to start listening to it. Our party has lost
This is a terrible idea. The ethics commission has a long and undistinguished history of being toothless. The system is set up to fail. The commission grabs headlines by levying huge fines ($100,000 in the case of Court of Criminal Appeals judge Sharon Keller, $29,000 against Supreme Court
The article, by Chris Gentilviso, says: Almost a year removed from his 2012 presidential run, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is turning his attention to future elections. Perry said on Monday that he is planning to “make an announcement” about “future political plans” in
State representative David Simpson (R-Longview) is a politician who is hard to categorize. He is totally independent and doesn’t care what others think of him. Nor does he shrink from conflict with the likes of TPPF and Michael Quinn Sullivan.From the Longview News-Journal: Longview’s state lawmaker said Tuesday
The appointment of Jeffrey S. Boyd is cronyism, pure and simple. Mr. Boyd has one of the skimpiest resumes I have ever seen for a high judicial appointment: * Senior partner in a prominent law firm (Thompson & Knight) * Chief of staff for the governor * General
I just read a review on the Huffington Postof David Frum’s new ebook, titled “Why Romney Lost (And What the GOP Can Do About It.)” A lot of Republicans don’t care for Mr. Frum, who was a speechwriter for George W. Bush, and regard him as an apostate
When the state’s leaders decide to implement drug testing of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens–those who are trying to get by on unemployment and/or welfare benefits–they might as well hang a sign in the rotunda that says “OUT OF IDEAS.” We have so many problems in this state,
PoliticalWire.com reports: Despite a terrible showing on Election Day, Karl Rove believes that American Crossroads and its more secretive issue-advocacy arm, Crossroads GPS — which allows donors to remain anonymous — are here to stay, the Washington Post reports. “Rove is pondering new missions for Crossroads to address
It may turn out to be the passage of the Pre K 4 SA referendum championed by Julian Castro in San Antonio. We may look back on that in future years (and not too future, say 2018) and realize that it was the essential first step for a future governor
Democratic legislative candidates lost most of their races on election night, but there were two notable exceptions. One was Wendy Davis’s victory over Mark Shelton in the race for a Tarrant County Senate seat. With 228 of 349 precincts reporting, and only 6 outstanding, Davis had an insurmountable lead. The
One thing that is all but certain to emerge from this night will be a different political status for Texas. If Romney wins, Texans will be going off to Washington to join the government—you know, the one they love to hate. (Already there are rumors of KBH for Secretary of
This is an unofficial but well-sourced report from people connected with the effort of San Antonio mayor Julian Castro. I do not have any further information at this time. The D turnout is said to be poor, which could affect Gallego/Canseco race.
Earlier today, Erick Erickson, of RedState.com, posted a juicy story about the race for Speaker of the Texas House: Despite efforts by grassroots organizations, new media writers and others, most of the coordinated efforts against conservatives by Straus and his allies regarding Texas redistricting have been hidden from view. Speaker Straus has
I’m sure some of my readers are 538 deniers, but I’m not hesitant to say that I’m a believer. I was surprised to see Karl Rove’s latest article in the Wall Street (on Friday): It comes down to numbers. And in the final days of this presidential race, from polling
I’m sitting in my office at TEXAS MONTHLY staring at a computer screen filled with sixteen polls.Fourteen show Obama in the lead. Two are ties.
I bring this up because of Jeb’s speech that Obama is always blaming somebody else for the nation’s problems — in particular Jeb’s brother.Well, the brand-new ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll has weighed in on the issue, and here is the verdict:Who do you think is more responsible for the
How deep is the budget hole that was dug by the 82nd Legislature? Here are some numbers that describe the extent of the problem:1. Medicaid was underfunded by $4.7B2. To pay for the full 24 months will cost another $4.7B3. That still leaves Medicaid caseload growth (to be determined)4. Public
The headline of the Forbes story was: RICK PERRY AND RICK SCOTT COULD COST HOSPITALS BILLIONS From Forbes: The nation’s state and local public hospitals may face an increase of more than $50 billion in the costs of uncompensated care by 2019 if states decide against participating in
The battle over public housing in Galveston.
Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:Ohio: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Quinnipiac)Florida: Obama 48%, Romney 47% (Quinnipiac)Iowa: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Public Policy Polling)Michigan: Obama 48%, Romney 45% (Detroit News)Pennsylvania: Obama 48%, Romney 44% (Franklin and Marshall)Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (Quinnipiac)Wisconsin:
I saw in the Midland Reporter-Telegram that Tom Craddick spoke to the home folks–the Permian Basin Petroleum Association–a few days ago. Here’s what he had to say: When the next session of the Texas Legislature opens in January, “it will be about money,” said State Rep. Tom Craddick, who has
It’s hardly worth looking at Texas polling. The only suspense is how big the Republican margin is going to be. According to Baselice, it’s 16 points. [Romney 54, Obama 38]. That is a huge differential. Not so long ago it was 9. The Cruz-Sadler differential is even worse [Cruz 48,
I saw this piece on a blog called Mullings. The author of the blog is Rich Galen, who I believe worked for Kay Bailey Hutchison at one time. FROM DNIPROPETROVSK, UKRAINE: I’ve been here for two days preparing for, and actually observing, the Ukrainian parliamentary elections. I was part of
From CNN: According to a CNN/ORC International survey released Friday [10/26], President Barack Obama holds a four point advantage over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the contest for Ohio’s much fought over 18 electoral votes. Fifty-percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say they are backing the president, with
In each of the following swing states, I looked at the ten latest polls as aggregated by the Huffington Post. This is the source of the data that I used. The decision on whether a state is a swing state is mine, not the Huffington Post’s. Here are the results:Colorado
I have no credentials as a statistician, but it seems evident to me that the three Ohio polls serve to reinforce each other and enhance the probability that Obama is ahead in that state by at least +2.
From the Huffington Post: Collectively, the new polls of the past 24 hours have done nothing to change the standings in the most crucial battleground states. Obama continued to hold leads of 2 to 3 percentage points in Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and Wisconsin, four states that currently combine with the
From the Huffington Post: In 2008, 90 percent of gamblers correctly forecast an Obama victory. They were also on the money with 48 of 50 states. Gamblers’ success in this arena is nothing new. In presidential races beginning in 1896, the New York Times, Sun, and World
Time/SRBI — Obama 49, Romney 44Lake Research — Obama 46, Romney 44Rasmussen (automated) — Obama 48, Romney 48Survey USA (automated) — Obama 47, Romney 44HuffPost Pollster (aggregate) — Obama 48.4, Romney 45.8* * * *I would not go so far as to say that Obama has a firewall in Ohio,
This was the best of the debates. Both Obama and Romney were at the top of their games. Romney’s camp positioned him as reassuring and, to the extent it was possible, presidential. This was very smart; it smoothed the rough edges that emerge whenever Romney goes on the attack. Clearly
1. Romney will renew his criticism of Obama’s muddled explanation of the attack on the consulate at Benghazi. Obama will respond with an attack on Romney’s ill-timed press release critizing the White House’s performance. Romney will not repeat his previous (false) accusation that it took Obama two weeks to call
From the Express-News: In the home stretch of a crucial election effort to pass his pre-K education plan, Mayor Julian Castro is being drafted for a different race, two years away. Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina launched a social media movement last week to draft Castro
From the Houston Chronicle: The Food and Drug Administration has informed the Sugar Land company involved in Gov. Rick Perry’s adult stem-cell procedure that it is illegally marketing an unlicensed drug. In a warning letter, the FDA gave Celltex Therapeutics Corp. 15 business days to submit a plan to address
I’m told by sources who heard it from the horse’s mouth, that the light gov has decided on his top priorities for the 2013 session, issues he would like to see designated as “emergencies.” (They would have to be designated as emergencies by the governor.) This is what my list
From the KTRK story:“Mario Gallegos was the first Mexican American elected to the Texas Senate from Harris County. He served two terms. Gallegos was a firefighter and a senior captain for 22 years. In 2007, he was elected “Governor for a day,” an honorary position awarded to the
The university says that it cannot build and operate its proposed new medical school without a permanent source of funding. It is seeking an increase in local property taxes (amounting to $107.40 per homeowner for the average home), the revenue from which would help fund the medical school. Austin historically
The first question from moderator Martha Raddatz was about the attack on the consulate in Libya: “Wasn’t this a massive intelligence failure?” Biden could only say, “What it was, was a tragedy.” Ryan: “It took the president two weeks to say this was a terrorist attack.” Biden said Ryan’s answer
From TPM [Talking Points Memo]A panel of federal judges ruled on Wednesday that South Carolina’s new voter ID does not have a discriminatory effect, but they also blocked it from going into effect in November.South Carolina had many of the same problems Texas encountered in trying to get
Here is some analysis from SCOTUSblog on the day’s proceedings: Analysis Affirmative action is alive but ailing, the idea of “critical mass” to measure racial diversity is in very critical condition, and a nine-year-old precedent may have to be reshaped in order to survive. Those were the dominant
The Amarillo Globe-News recently published a story suggesting that lawmakers might contemplate raising the tax on draft beer. The tax was the suggestion of Dick Lavine, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities. The beer tax hasn’t been touched for some thirty years–and it
This piece ran in the Washington Post on October 5. The author, Valerie Martinez-Ebers, is a professor of political science at the University of North Texas and is co-editor of the American Political Science Review. Her article follows: At their recent national conventions, the Democratic and Republican parties
This morning the Supreme Court will hear the case of Fisher v. UT, which I wrote about in our April issue. SCOTUSblog has a thorough discussion of the case, parts of which appear below: America’s Constitution embraces the cultural ideal that all persons are equal, and that
Texans elect the judges on the state’s two courts of last resort: the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals. Except for the legal community, voters often don’t know much about the candidates. In a contested race, they tend to vote based on the party, not on the individual.
It was a very good debate involving two strong candidates. Romney was in top form; Obama wasn’t. He recited his lines, but without fire or passion. It was very much like his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, which was just cheerleading. He had run out of useful things to
Yuck. That was one ugly debate between Cruz and Sadler. There was no winner, and the loser was the audience watching on TV. Moderator Brad Watson spent most of the debate trying to stop Cruz and Sadler from speaking at the same time, without much success. Sadler was unrestrained. He
