The Midday Brief: Sept. 16, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "The primary season for 2010 is over, but a Public Policy Polling survey of Texas Republican primary voters shows that Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is surprisingly vulnerable for 2012." — Could Kay Bailey Hutchison be the next Republican senator to be primary challenged?, The Texas Independent

• "Republicans have lamented for years that they have lost seats in the House due to votes for Libertarian candidates. When Tom Craddick was trying to hold onto his speakership, he (or his emissaries) approached Libertarian candidates and asked them to withdraw from the race. It didn’t work. But Republicans have figured out the game." — Democrats beware, BurkaBlog

• "In the past, Chet Edwards could rely on personal charm and an independent voting streak to get him reelected. Not this year. Residents of the 17th district are riled up like never before." — Targeting Chet Edwards, National Review Online

• "Redistricting is on the horizon, and as savvy political insiders are acutely aware, the most effective method to pad a party's congressional ranks is by controlling the way district boundaries are drawn every 10 years. That's why Tom DeLay, Gov Rick Perry and their allies fought so hard to force a rare mid-decade remap in Texas — the one that forced out a half-dozen senior Democratic incumbents." — GOP strategists say Texas House safe from Democratic takeover; implications for redistricting, Trail Blazers

• "Senate Republicans voiced opposition Wednesday to a move by Democrats to tack onto a defense bill a measure that could provide citizenship to illegal immigrants serving in the U.S. military." — Senate GOP: No citizenship for illegal immigrants in U.S. military, schools, Texas on the Potomac

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "In a rare campaign trail policy announcement on Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind an effort to pass more extensive tort reform legislation." — Perry Says the State Needs More Tort Reform

• "Republican Bill Flores launched his third television ad in his general election bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco." — Bill Flores Launches Third General Election TV Ad