THE BIG CONVERSATION 

Ready to welcome U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry into your living room?

Both campaigns will begin broadcasting their first television ads today.

Hutchison’s, called “Fighter,” stresses the importance of fighting a “government takeover of healthcare” — the activity Hutchison says is keeping her in the U.S. Senate until at least March.

Perry’s ad, “Texas Values,” argues that Texas’ is stronger than the average economy because of one man — Rick Perry.

Neither candidate mentions the other in the ad, but Perry’s does flash a picture of Hutchison over the line “While Washington gives us politics.” Cut to a shot of Perry and the line, “Texas delivers results.” 

The Hutchison campaign was quick to point out that the picture used in the ad is of Hutchison celebrating Second Amendment rights after the D.C. gun ban was overturned in 2008.

The Houston Chronicle’s R.G. Ratcliffe strapped both the Perry and the Hutchison ads to his truth-telling machine — and the results are worth checking out.

Also appearing on TVs across Texas today is Democrat and hair care business executive Farouk Shami. Less than 24 hours after announcing his candidacy at a lavish event in Houston, he’s already on the air in a significant statewide media buy touting his personal success story and promising to bring change to Texas.

Can a candidate buy front-runner status? Shami is the last of the five Democrats currently running to announce, but he’s the first to make it to television.  That’s just the beginning — he pledges to spend $10 million of his personal fortune in the primary alone.

CULLED:

• Speaker of the House Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, released his list of items for committees to examine and review before the next legislative session. Highlights from the interim charges include the return — or lingering — of voter ID, which the Elections Committee will look at.    

• El Paso Republican businessman Dee Margo said Thursday that he will try at least one more time for Democrat Joe Moody’s seat in the Texas House.  This will be Margo’s third attempt for a spot in the Texas Legislature.  In 2006, he tried for Texas Senate and lost easily to state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh.  In 2008, he defeated former state Rep. Pat Haggerty in the primary, but then fell to Moody in the general election for the seat he is gunning for again. 

• Gov. Rick Perry did not go along with the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which recommended commuting the sentence of Robert Lee Thompson from execution to life in prison for his part in the killing of Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed. Perry said in a statement, “I have decided to uphold the jury’s capital murder conviction and capital punishment for this heinous crime. There is no reason to set aside the capital murder conviction handed down by a Texas jury and upheld by numerous state and federal courts.”

“Bobbie [sic] Jindal just busted me for tweeting his remarks at our lunch @ RGA… he is a star in a galaxy of talent in the governor’s universe!!” — Gov. Rick Perry tweeting during the Republican Governors Association conference

MUST READ:

• Gonzales: Border affairs panel will consider critical issues during interim — Rio Grande Guardian

• Locke, Parker in dead heat for mayor, exclusive 11 News poll shows — KHOU

• Rep. Kevin Brady asks Treasury secretary to resign — Texas on the Potomac

• Pentagon to Review Shootings at Fort Hood — The New York Times

• Heritage Society opposes addition to Governor’s Mansion — Austin American-Statesman

• Hospital War — The Texas Tribune

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