The Midday Brief: Oct. 21, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "The Democrat's top congressional strategist predicted this morning that two embattled Texas incumbents, Reps. Chet Edwards and Ciro Rodriguez, would win reelection on Nov. 2." — Top Democratic strategist sees incumbent Chet Edwards holding off GOP challenger Bill Flores in U.S. House District 17, The Dallas Morning News

• "U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, recently used robocalls in his district to get out the word about early voting. The only problem is that his voice message said early voting ends Friday. The actual end of early voting is Oct. 29." — Flores charges Edwards with suppressing votes with robocall, PoliTex

• "It is clear that Republican areas are outperforming 2008 levels. In other words, more Republicans are turning out in a gubernatorial year than turned out in a presidential year. Unless a lot of these Republicans are voting for White, this is a Democratic disaster." — Early vote analysis from Harris County: big turnout in R areas, BurkaBlog

• "Barring unexpected victories by Democrats at polls across the state — or a hard-right conservative revolt in the Texas House — it appears the makeup of powerful legislative boards on redistricting and the budget will remain intact in the 2011 session." — Texas legislative boards on redistricting, budget look to remain intact past November, The Texas Independent