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...Perry has been courting Hispanic voters in South Texas, Jillson notes, by sending discretionary law-enforcement grants to local sheriffs who are often major players in South Texas politics. The notion that the Hispanic vote is a Democratic bloc is also debatable. A poll commissioned by state legislators across the country who serve on the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, released just before the March 7 primary, indicated that 54% of Texas Hispanics identified themselves as conservative and 23% said they might participate in the Republican primary (Perry got the nod 2-to-1 over Hutchison among that group...
Democrats say Perry has come close to being vulnerable before, citing the 2006 election, when he squeaked back into the governor's mansion with just 39% of the vote. But that was a race that included three other major candidates with widespread appeal - Democrat Chris Bell, who got 28% of the vote; renegade Democrat turned Republican turned independent Carole Strayhorn, who garnered 18%; and songwriter-novelist Kinky Friedman, who won 12%. Short of a scandal, Perry's base seems secure. Democrats are hoping that the election might reflect voter weariness with Perry, who has served almost 10 years...
...libertarians, he says, believe the market should dictate policy on nearly everything from the environment to health care. Paul has lately said he would not leave abortion to the states, he doesn't believe in legalizing drugs like marijuana and cocaine, he'd support federal drug laws, he'd vote to support Kentucky's coal interests and he'd be tough on national security...
...both parties brace for the House's deciding vote on health reform, they are framing the issue in starkly different ways. To Democrats, it's one last chance to make the moral argument in favor of reform, political repercussions be damned. "We need courage," said President Obama at a speech in Ohio on Monday. To Republicans, it's all about politics, specifically the possibility that House Democrats will employ a relatively rare procedural maneuver to ram through legislation they can't pass by conventional means, and in the process better position vulnerable members for fall re-election battles. These legislative...
...parliamentary maneuver that Pelosi is strongly considering and which Republicans vigorously object to (despite having used it themselves often in the past) would have the House "deem" the Senate bill as passed without directly voting on it. The political upside to this is that House members could tell constituents they never voted in favor of the original Senate bill, which contains several unsavory sweetheart deals that the package of fixes would strip away. "The public is already uncomfortable with the process, and this just makes it worse," says Democratic Representative Jason Altmire, who previously voted against health reform and whose...