When a governor has given five State of the State addresses, chances are that the sixth is going to sound pretty familiar. And so it did. What has changed over the eon that Perry has served as governor is not what he says, but how he says it. He has become a polished,
On Saturday, the Austin American-Statesman published a piece by its humor columnist, John Kelso. For those who don’t know him, Kelso’s style is to be the cranky contrarian (his blog is called Kelso’s Cranky Corner) who likes to poke fun at politicians, football coaches, and just about anybody else. (Recently a
Bill White’s toughest foe this fall isn’t Rick Perry. It’s the national Democrats. But he could still win. Maybe.
The level of political discourse in this campaign is about as bad as I have ever seen it. Take today’s communication from the Perry campaign: Today is Day 171 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to debate. He also continues to refuse to release his taxes from his years
The race hasn’t budged since the last poll (July 14, Perry 50, White 41). What is significant is that White has spent buckets of money since the last poll and he hasn’t moved any numbers. Probably most Texans know how they are going to vote in this race. Here is
Readers will recall that an earlier version of this saga featured Perry's claim that White, while mayor of Houston, personally profited from a contract between the Coastal Water Authority and BTEC, a company that provided generators to keep water flowing to major Houston industries during the storm. To refresh readers'
As the only man ever to run against both Bill White and Rick Perry, I have a few thoughts on how either one of these fine, upstanding, admirable men could beat the tar out of the other.
I don’t get it. White has been criticizing Perry for taking more stimulus funding than any state except California and New York. Is this a bad thing? White is a Democrat. Democrats want to use government to help people. Money helps people. Had White been governor, would he have told
The previous poll was 48-40, so very little change. Curiously, Rasmussen describes Perry’s lead as “modest.” Since the MOE is +/- 4./5%, Perry’s nine-point edge is the largest possible advantage that is still within the margin of error. Perhaps Rasmussen is downplaying Perry’s lead as a reaction to recent criticism
This was the text of the governor’s statement regarding EPA’s decision to reject Texas’s State Implementation Program for the Clean Air Act. “The EPA’s irresponsible and heavy-handed action not only undermines Texas’ successful clean air programs, but threatens thousands of Texas jobs, families, businesses and communities throughout our state. It
The first article below is from the Oil Price Information Service (OPISnet.com), an industry newsletter. It is an informational publication, not an advocacy publication. A typical article is, "Flattening Ethylene Forwards Curve Reflects Declining Demand, Rising Supply." The second article appeared in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times under Rick Perry's byline.
A reader and frequent commenter who calls himself “Cow Droppings” posted these remarks on Burkablog a couple of days ago concerning the Green Party issue, a subject about which I have not yet written. Let’s stipulate as fact for a second that [Mike] Toomey orchestrated Green recruitment. Question: what crime
Here is the writeup by PPP: One of the biggest questions about the 2010 election cycle, which we still don't really know the answer to, is whether it will be solely an anti-Democratic year or more broadly an anti-incumbent year. Our newest Texas poll would seem to suggest voter fatigue
Only 8% are undecided, with 5% preferring some other candidate. As with all Rasmussen polls, this one was an automated-response telephone survey of 500 likely voters conducted on a single day (June 16). The margin of error is is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Readers
(For a full discussion of the accusations leveled against Bill White by the Perry campaign, see my previous post, “Perry says White should quit the race over Rita contract”) I received this e-mail today from a Perry insider as a response to the post mentioned above: The connection to White
This was the lead of the AP story that has rocked the White campaign today: Former Houston Mayor Bill White, who was widely praised for guiding his city through Hurricane Rita, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he made money by investing in a company that was hired
Before Rick Perry was fighting for the governorship of the second-largest state in the country, he was just a kid from Paint Creek.
The El Paso Times today reports that the 1,200 National Guard troops President Barack Obama is sending to the border will be authorized to do…well, nothing. Can’t patrol it, can’t interdict aliens crossing the border, can’t use deadly force. From the Times’ story: The Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law,
At least it’s better than the Rasmussen poll. The numbers: Perry 44% White 35% Undecided 15% Someone else 7% If you were trying to put a good face on the results for White, you would say (1) Perry is under 50%; (2) 22%, more than 1 voter in 5, are
I mean, where’s Bill White? The State Board of Education is in a meltdown that is getting worldwide publicity, and the best he can do is say that if he is elected governor, he would name a new chair. Big deal. He ought to be saying: This is Rick Perry’s
The numbers speak for themselves. We are seeing an instant replay of the Republican primary. Another Perry opponent has been unable to find a theme that resonates with the voters. Meanwhile, Perry has found a strange political bedfellow–Anise Parker, White’s successor as mayor–who delivered Perry manna from heaven: the devastating
Here’s what opinion columnist Brent Budowsky had to say earlier this week about the Texas governor’s race. Keep in mind that Budowsky was an aide to Senator Lloyd Bentsen and later worked for the House Democratic leadership. Disclaimer: I’ll cite the article, I’ll even publish selections from the
That was a weird comment for the governor to make. He can’t possibly substantiate his statement. Is he so anti-litigation that he is trying to protect the perpetrators? In any event, Black’s Law Dictionary defines an act of God as “An act occasioned exclusively by violence of nature without the
The Dallas Morning News is reporting that a march protesting Arizona’s immigration law is scheduled for Saturday. A crowd of 100,000 is expected. This is a long way from the 500,000 who protested a crackdown on immigration in 2006. Nevertheless, the rising passion over the issue poses problems
Remember that comment Perry made a week or so ago, when Obama talked about adding jobs at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but remained mum about the Johnson Space Center in Houston? Perry said that Obama had “put a target on Texas’s back.” One hardly expects Obama to love
This is a charge that the Perry campaign, through spokesman Mark Miner, has leveled at White. It seemed dubious to me, because contingency fees have been used by plaintiffs' lawyers since long before Bill White was practicing law. Contingency fees are used in personal injury cases when a client cannot
The group is called CREW -- for "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington" -- and Perry was one of eleven governors to make the worst list. His compatriots, in alphabetical order, were: Haley Barbour (R-MS) Donald Carcieri (R-RI) Jim Gibbons (R-NV) Bobby Jindal (R-LA) David Paterson (D-NY) Sonny Perdue
Bill White is criticizing Rick Perry for allowing the taxpayers to pick up the tab for the home where is family is living while the Governor’s Mansion is under repair. Here’s what White had to say on the subject: Dear —– Did you know that Rick Perry is charging taxpayers
The previous poll showed Perry ahead 49-43. This one shows him ahead 48-44. The difference has no significance at this stage of the race. Perry is still under 50%, but very close. Remember, Perry didn’t break 50% in the primary until election day. The most interesting thing about the poll
The question got a lot of play on Fox News after Perry gave a rousing speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans on Friday. On Fox, Perry said, “My name is not on the straw poll. I have no interest in the presidential election personally.”
The fight is over a bill Jones supported in 2001 providing for undocumented high school students to be able to pay in-state tuition rates at Texas colleges and universities — the same rates that legal residents pay. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the entire Lubbock delegation voted for
The U.S. Supreme Court has put Texas’s procedures in death penalty appeals in the spotlight again. It blocked the execution of Henry Skinner, who was schedule to die at 6 p.m. tonight, Texas time. The Court’s action followed the decision of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles not to
The article below appeared in "The Corner," a column that appears regularly in National Review Online earlier this month. The author commented on my post of March 4, "Last Words on the GOP Governor's Race." For readers' convenience, the excerpts from my post are quoted; the author's comments
The Perry campaign sent this letter to supporters over the name of consultant Dave Carney: Thanks for all of your help during the primary. The primary results are a real testament to the massive amount of support the Governor has across the Texas . Everyone helps in their own way.
This is the text of an e-mail I received from the Perry camp about the attacks the Perry campaign will use against Bill White: “Bill White as Mayor of Houston: supported gun control; opposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; made Houston a sanctuary city; left Houston with twice as
Perry’s decisive victory over a sitting United States Senator is going to propel him into national prominence. Republican power brokers will have to take notice of him as a potential presidential candidate, if they haven’t already done so. Who on the Republican side would make a better candidate? Mitt Romney
This was supposed to be an unpredictable election due to the tea parties and the Medina candidacy. It was supposed to be an election in which angry conservatives rose up and smote incumbents. Nothing remotely like that occurred. Republican congressional candidates, who might have been tainted by Washingtonitis, won with
Perry creeps ever closer to the magic 50% that would enable him to win without a runoff—which the Perry camp expects him to do. Hutchison’s position appears to be hopeless, not that this is anything new, but it does raise the question of whether, if Perry comes in with just
Perry 40% (39%) Hutchison 31% (28%) Medina 20% (24%) (numbers in parentheses = PPP 2/9 poll) N = 400 likely Republican primary voters MOE = +/- 4.9% These numbers seem intuitively correct. They suggest that Perry and Hutchison have beaten each other up enough that both are more or less
Haven’t Dick Weekley and Leo Linbeck inflicted enough damage on Texas politics through TLR without starting a new PAC (with Harlan Crow)? The unmodestly named Texas Citizen Leader PAC proclaims that it will support politicians based on their adherence to four basic principles: limited government, individual liberty, free enterprise and
I received this e-mail from a lobbyist whom I have known for many years: Just got a robocall from “Texans for Kay” (was “Private Caller” on caller ID) with a clip from the Glenn Beck show about Perry is someone who says and does good things during an election but
Research 2000 is a reputable national polling firm. That said, the result is definitely an outlier. The latest UT/Tribune poll, for example, has Perry and Hutchison leading White by identical nine-point margins, 44-35 in Perry’s case and 43-34 in Hutchison’s. This margin is a little higher than the presumed R
The numbers: Perry 45% Hutchison 21% Medina 19% Undecided 16% The poll surveyed 366 Republican primary voters and has a margin of error of +/- 5.12%. The Hutchison campaign will go down in Texas history as accomplishing the least with the most assets, personal and financial. (The closest contender: Claytie
I don’t know the details of this poll, but here are the results. The sample was 300 Republican primary voters who said they would “definitely” vote or “likely” to vote: Perry 43.3 Medina 22.7 Hutchison 22.0 This is in Hutchison’s back yard of the Metroplex. I don’t see how she
Public Policy Polling has the governor’s race as a 15-point spread from top to bottom: Perry 39% (sound familiar?) Hutchison 28% Medina 24% Undecided 10% Rasmussen’s most recent poll: Perry 44% Hutchison 29% Medina 16% Anything can happen now. Medina’s support has grown by 50% since the Rasmussen poll even
I drove to Houston for the rally yesterday. The event was held at a huge complex called the Richard E. Berry Educational Support center on Barker-Cypress Road in northwest Houston. The surrounding area is entirely outside the Houston city limits and is unincorporated. A colleague at Texas Monthly who lives
Perry gained 1 point since the previous poll. Hutchison lost 4 points. Medina gained 4 points. Hutchison now is lower in the polls (29) than Perry was (30) when she first announced that she would run for governor. Key stat: If voters maintain their current attitudes, Hutchison needs 50% of
Finally, Rick Perry wants to do something about the dropout rate. He proposes to prohibit people of high school age from having a driver’s license if they drop out or aren’t progressing toward a degree. Current law requires that students be enrolled in high school in order to get a
Here is what I would do if I had been running the Hutchison campaign. I would not just sit back and let Perry punch us with the bailout day after day, week after week, month after month. I would follow the old rule: “Hang a lantern on your problem.” I
On the air Perry looks more comfortable so far. First question, the corridor. Was it a mistake? Perry says, wasn't a mistake to have a vision. Blames governors who didn't do anything before him. We had to come up with a way to move people. He had a big smile,
