The Midday Brief: Dec. 7, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Gov. Rick Perry is stoking the culture wars with an edgy new TV ad railing against policies that allow gays to serve openly in the military but keep overt religious displays out of public schools." — In New Ad, Struggling Perry Stokes Culture Wars

• "The promoters and track owners trying to put on a Formula One race in Austin apparently overcame their differences just in time — the F1 race for November 2012 is officially on the calendar." — Austin's Formula One Race Gets Green Light

• "University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa was among a dozen leaders invited to the White House for a talk with President Obama about the challenges facing higher education." — UT Chancellor Meets With Obama, Higher Ed Leaders in D.C.

• "The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on how Texas is learning to manage wind energy, what he's learned by monitoring his own electricity consumption at home and how his agency has changed in the decade since Enron's downfall." — Jon Wellinghoff: The TT Interview

Your afternoon reading:

• "Struggling for traction in the Republican contest, Perry is gambling that the religious conservatives who typically dominate Iowa's kickoff caucuses will warm to his candidacy if he appeals to them with a socially conservative message. He's also drawing a contrast with rival Mitt Romney — whose Mormon faith gives many evangelicals pause — and Newt Gingrich, who recently converted to Catholicism but has been divorced twice and has acknowledged infidelity in his first two marriages. But this ad, which attacks President Barack Obama on gay rights and religion, is misleading and inaccurate." — Breaking down Rick Perry's new TV ad, "Strong," The Associated Press

• "Speaking of campaigns showing they're built to last, Ron Paul's team just announced five new office openings in non-early states: Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota and Washington." — The Ron Paul slog, Politico

• "Sooner or later–probably the former–the national media is going to start digging into Gingrich’s past, and they will uncover a mother lode of material. At that point, the media become Perry’s new best friend, and Gingrich will began to fall in the polls. Then Republican field will narrow to Romney vs. Perry. In that scenario, it’s advantage Perry. Don’t write him off yet." — How the media could save Perry, BurkaBlog

• "Looking for Rick Perry's campaign website? Make sure you get the URL right: RickPerry.org. If you instead type in RickPerry.com, you'll be sent to the website of a fellow Texan, Rep. Ron Paul. But the Paul campaign says this wasn't their work." — Rick Perry Has a Domain-Name Problem, National Journal