Quotes of the Week

You can't be conservative enough to satisfy the Tea Party base of the Republican primary electorate. Cornyn has been rated the second most conservative member of the Senate, and the question comes from them, why not first? They say gut up, look at Ted Cruz and be like that.

Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson, on the Senate minority whip's current difficulties with the right wing of his party

There's no question. All the money that's not under the Vatican is at UT.

Red McCombs, asked if Texas can get Nick Saban

Just a few weeks ago, people in Washington were saying, ‘Why on earth are you fighting so hard against Obamacare?’ Now, nobody’s saying that. Over and over again you run into people who say, ‘Now I understand what this is all about.’

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claiming some vindication for using the threat of a government shutdown to force the defunding of the Affordable Care Act

You can still elect a Democrat to a statewide office in the South, if you have the right candidate, with the right biography, in the right cycle. And then hopefully you get some help from the Republicans’ nominating a bad candidate. But that’s a lot of ifs.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, political science professor Thomas F. Schaller on the challenge facing Democrats throughout the South