It’s not hard to figure out why Governor Perry removed the chairman and two members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission just before its scheduled meeting: He was about to be embarrassed, and not just in Texas but nationally. The commission was going to hear a report from an arson
In his conversation with Texans who were able to connect with his video address, Governor Perry offered new proposals for his next campaign. Let’s say that you had been governor for the past nine years. What would your top priorities be? Here’s what I would identify: * Improve the quality
Even someone who supports the death penalty, as you do, can and should be up in arms over the Cameron Willingham case.
An unsigned editorial in today’s Midland Reporter-Telegram expresses concern that the $12 billion in stimulus funds that were used to balance the budget “might some day come back to haunt us.” The paper was alerted to the danger by “a recent report to Midlanders from Tom Craddick, our
This headline from a press release from the Perry campaign caught my attention: Kay Bailout Express delivers more earmarks, fails to protect landowners The first part of the release attacks Hutchison for voting for the Department of Interior's appropriations bill: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison today continued her 16-year tradition of
Chris Cillizza, author of “The Fix,” the Washington Post’s politics blog, criticized Rick Perry last week for suggesting that Hutchison might not run: Perry, during a sit-down with a dozen or so Washington-based reporters late last week, said that although Hutchison has already announced her candidacy, he is
I received this communication from State Republican Executive Committee member Mark McCaig in response to my post about Tina Benkiser’s resignation as state chairman of the SREC. McCaig has been a critic of Benkiser’s leadership and had considered running against her had she run for reelection. McCaig writes: I do
"Things are seldom what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream." --Gilbert and Sullivan A reputable GOP consultant who is not engaged with either gubernatorial campaign has concluded after looking at the crosstabs of the Rasmussen poll that the poll's conclusion that Hutchison is leading by Perry by 2 points
Benkiser, whose title will be senior adviser, brings to the table a knowledge of all the players in the GOP--SREC members, county chairs, precinct chairs, the big fundraisers, the state party organization, the whole works. That's worth something. On the other hand, her leadership of the party has been challenged
From the Hutchison campaign, 23 September: Instead Of Cutting Spending, Rick Perry Balanced The Budget Through $12.1 Billion In Federal Stimulus Funds. “With little debate, the Texas House passed its largest budget ever Friday, a day after senators also breezed through the $182.3 billion plan for the next two years.
Houston’s KHOU broke the story. A commenter sent the audiotape, which I listened to. Here is what I heard on the audiotape. After Perry asks, “Are we in one?” — referring to a recession — and the laughter, Perry says: But seriously, the fact is that because we
The liberal Democratic blog Huffington Post assailed Rick Perry today, devoting a full page to his foibles. It won’t affect the Republican gubernatorial primary, though, since no R’s read Huffington Post. Various unflattering photos of Perry appear on the Web site. Here are the topics: –“Rick Perry admits,
I haven’t previously paid much attention to the candidacy of Debra Medina, of Wharton, for the Republican nomination for governor, but when the Rasmussen poll shows Hutchison ahead of Perry by 2% and Medina gets 3%, perhaps it’s time to pay attention. This race is fertile ground for a wild-card
“Collin Watcher,” a reader, posted a comment to the article, “Let them eat chili,” about the video of Rick Perry speaking to a Houston business group, in which Perry refers to a report that Texas will be the first state to come out of the recession, and then jokes, Are
This is the YouTube link for Perry’s comments yesterday about Texas being recession-proof before an audience of business leaders in Houston. * * * * Here is the transcript of what Perry said: “Why is Texas kind of recession-proof, if you will? As a matter of fact, just
Hutchison 40%, Perry 38%. This is a stunning development. Hutchison was down 46-36 in July and had a poor rollout of her campaign in August. What accounts for the turnaround? 1. Overconfidence and misjudgments in the Perry camp. I have had a number of conversations with Perry supporters,
From the Hutchison daily e-mail: Hutchison also has taken issue with Perry taking credit for Texas’ ability to weather the economic storm that has depleted other states’ coffers. Hutchison admitted that Texas is doing better than other states in the slow economy. “The reason we are doing better is that
The Hutchison campaign is doing a better job of having a daily presence—it couldn’t have done a worse job—but it is still too reminiscent of a high school debate approach. By that I mean the campaign is trying to attack here and probe for a weakness there without developing the
Is nothing sacred? Playing politics with the Texas Rangers ought to be off limits. And if the governor is going to play politics with them, shouldn’t the governor have to say how many Rangers he is deploying? Is it two, or twenty? The El Paso Times published a
Here are some conditions that may — indeed, should — apply to its return. I found this by googling “Ray Bowen bonfire recommendations.” University president Ray Bowen said Friday [I believe the date referred to is September 8, 2001] that when the tradition does resume, in 2002 at
This report is from Senior Editor Pam Colloff: In the course of working on an oral history of the A&M Bonfire tragedy for our November issue—a story that will mark the tenth anniversary of the Bonfire tragedy, which claimed the lives of twelve Aggies—I had the opportunity to interview Rick
The Hutchison campaign sent out this broadside against the governor today for his office’s action in demanding the resignations of two Texas Tech regents for their support of Kay Bailey Hutchison: “The message is clear for every single dedicated public servant in Texas: Either pledge support for Rick Perry or
…My post about “The Hutchison Huddle,” which I inadvertently deleted. The Hutchison Huddle is a daily collection of e-mail messages from Joe Pounder of the Hutchison campaign. The one that I picked from today’s e-mail read: While Kay Bailey Hutchison is on the campaign trail talking with Texas voters, Rick
Most readers are familiar with the Wall Street Journal's interview with Rick Perry, conducted by alleged journalist Emily Efsahani-Smith, that appeared last Saturday in the online edition. The article includes a drawing of Perry. The article itself appears in italics. California needs a strong leader, says Texas governor
Why has attendance lagged on the Hutchison announcement tour? For one thing, it’s summer, it’s hot, people aren’t paying attention to politics right now. For another, this campaign couldn’t draw a crowd if you gave them a box of crayons. But I think the biggest reason is that it’s an
Baseball aficionados may recognize the headline as the title of a book by Jimmy Breslin about the 1962 New York Mets, lovable losers of 120 of their 162 games. I was reminded of the book — the title was a quote from Mets’ manager Casey Stengel — by the astonishingly
I confess that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Dan Patrick’s reelection announcement last week, but one thing struck me as very peculiar. Here are the first three paragraphs of the release: “During the past few weeks there has been speculation I might run for, or be appointed
I missed this story from the Startlegram on Saturday. The first few paragraphs: No one seems to be mentioning U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, as a candidate to replace outgoing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Turns out that Barton — who came in third in the 1993 special
The answer is: No, no, and hell no. What is the upside of resigning? The only advantage is that it gives her more time to campaign in Texas. That is worth something. But the upside of staying is far greater. Perry set out to define the race as Texas (him)
Let's just start out by reviewing what has happened so far. As those who have followed the debate know, $555 million in federal stimulus funds was available for Texas, provided that the Legislature agree to make several changes that increased the number of people who would be eligible for UI
Rick Perry is the first Aggie governor in history. But as the current crisis shows, he’s been nothing but trouble for Texas A&M.
This represents a net six point gain for Perry over the May poll (Perry +4, Hutchison -2). The spread itself is bad enough for the Hutchison camp, but even worse is that Perry has passed her in favorability ratings. This would have been seen as inconceivable at the time Hutchison
Perry’s twelve-point lead is the same as his advantage in last month’s Texas Lyceum poll, which was conducted by the same pollsters — Perry 33, Hutchison 21. Both that poll and this one showed that a large number of voters were undecided or preferred someone else. The Democratic primary results,
[Dated June 22, 2009; italics, bold facing, and ellipses are original] Dear ---- A few weeks ago, I found myself at the center of a national firestorm, and the subject of withering attacks from the left, because I had the nerve to defend the U.S. Constitution. I don't know when
The danger of a special session for a governor is that he won’t get what he wants, and in failing to get it, will open himself to charges of failed leadership. That is why Perry planned to limit the session to the Sunset Safety Net bill that will continue the
So says Ken Rudin, who writes NPR's daily political blog, Political Junkie. Dismissing House and Senate Republicans, he focuses on governors as the future of the GOP. This narrowing of the list omits Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Newt Gingrich, among others. Here is his list: 1.
Here are the numbers. Commentary follows. Approval Ratings Obama as president Approve 68% Disapprove 29% Obama economic policy Approve 63% Disapprove 34% Rick Perry Approve 57% Disapprove 30% Kay Bailey Hutchison Approve 65% Disapprove 17% John Cornyn Approve 55% Disapprove 19% Texas Legislature Approve 58% Disapprove 28% Democratic Primary (Governor)
To link to the executive summary of the poll, click here. There’s a lot of meat here, but the issues that I found most interesting were: Perry’s decision to reject unemployment stimulus funds: 58% agree 34% disagree Bank bailouts 25% favor 64% oppose Automobile company bailouts 31% favor
I received an e-mail from a friend at Texas A&M that consists of an op-ed piece written by Jon Hagler, whose service to A&M includes board chairman of the Texas A&M Foundation and co-chairman of Vision 2020, a long-term project to enhance Texas A&M’s national prominence. He was named a
Earlier speculation was that Perry would wait to call a special session until after the Republican primary. Now, according to a couple of sources who are usually knowledgeable about the goings-on in the governor’s office, Perry wants a short special session around a month from now — I’d say between
Rick Perry, Mirabeau B. Lamar, and the two visions of Texas.
Enjoy the latest take on Rick Perry’s secessionist leanings from the national “media.”
How else to describe the pace of House debate? I can’t recall another session when the default option was for both parties to chub every bill. The debate over the unemployment insurance bill was particularly dilatory. Why is this bill even being debated? Rick Perry has drawn his line in
Eltife’s bill to make the changes necessary for Texas to be eligible to get $555 million in funds for unemployment insurance will die in the House. A poll of the floor yielded around 80 votes for the bill, and since the 74 Democrats are presumed to favor it, that means
This is the article about the poll on the Rasmussen Web site: Texas Governor Rick Perry and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison find themselves essentially tied in an early look at their 2010 Primary battle. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey shows Perry attracting 42% of the vote
Dear Paul, You have covered me throughout my career in public service to Texas so you remember I was a proud Republican even when we could hold our gatherings in a phone booth. Having helped make the GOP the dominant party in Texas in the late 90s, I am committed
John Sharp has a spot on YouTube criticizing his former, or perhaps current, and possibly even future friend Rick Perry for his remarks about secession. Here is the text of "The Greatest Country on Earth," in which Sharp does not mention Perry by name: During World War II
The secession controversy generated by Rick Perry has a long history in Texas politics, going all the way back to Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar, the first and second presidents of the Republic of Texas. The two presidents had totally different visions of Texas, which persist today. Houston recognized
Today is April 15, the filing deadline for income taxes. Conservatives are trying to organize protests against Obama's fiscal policies all around the country, known as Tea Parties. Rick Perry will attend three of the rallies. Dick Armey, the former House Majority leader, has an op-ed piece in
My post of last week, "Batteries not Included," elicited an interesting comment a frequent commenter who styles himself as "Conservative Texan." Why should government be deciding winners and losers among development projects? Government has a poor record in these endeavors. That’s because they tend to be controlled by which project