The Midday Brief: Sept. 27, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "The Perry camp is dismissing a report today from Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News that the Texas governor has raised $20 million in only three days of fundraising in Oklahoma and Texas. 'The $20 million figure in the DMN today is nutty and notably unsourced,' said Ray Sullivan, Perry’s communications director, in an e-mail. 'Governor Perry’s mid-August entry to the race means we only have half a fundraising quarter to compete for campaign dollars. We hope to do well, but know the other candidates will have about double the fundraising time as we did this quarter.'" — Perry camp calls $20 million report ‘nutty,' Houston Chronicle

• "Mitt Romney continues his immigration attacks on Rick Perry today with a new web video that compares the Texas governor to both Barack Obama and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley." — Romney hammers Perry yet again on immigration, Trail Blazers

• "Fewer lawmakers are endorsing a presidential candidate this year, but that hasn’t stanched the whisper primary on Capitol Hill: 'Are you a Rick Perry guy or a Mitt Romney guy?'" — Whispers on Hill: Romney or Perry?, Politico

• "As he faces growing scrutiny about his conservative credentials, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called grassroots activists in the key early states of Iowa and South Carolina on Monday evening to address his record and take questions." — Perry moves to reassure Republicans in Iowa, South Carolina, CNN

• "The Texas Department of State Health Services received the single largest grant — $10 million — of 61 that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Tuesday. The $103 million worth of grants are to help fight or prevent heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. More politically relevant is the fact the money flows from the federal health care overhaul law, a/k/a the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare, to some." — Texas snares biggest single grant in latest federal health care divvy-up, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to defend in-state tuition for illegal immigrants now seems out of step with the GOP mainstream. But that wasn't the case 10 years ago. It's the Republican Party that has moved — not the governor." — Guest Column: The GOP Flipped on Tuition Issue, but Perry Hasn't

• "The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission on how close Texas came to rolling blackouts this summer, what consumers can expect to pay as wind-power transmission expands, and how the historic drought affects the reliability of the power grid." — Donna Nelson: The TT Interview