The Midday Brief: Jan. 9, 2012

Your afternoon reading:

• "The Supreme Court appeared to struggle Monday with what to do about holding elections in Texas for the state legislature and Congress in a case that could affect the federal Voting Rights Act and even the balance of power in the House. … Several justices considered whether courts could resolve the matter in time for the April vote. 'Why can't this all be pushed back and wouldn't that eliminate a lot of the problems we are grappling with in this case?' Justice Samuel Alito asked." — Supreme Court struggles with Texas election case, The Associated Press (A transcript of the oral arguments can be found here.)
  

• "The Supreme Court justices grappled to find a way to resolve a messy Texas redistricting case during oral arguments Monday morning, presenting then knocking down a variety of small-bore solutions to reach an interim map for Texas’s congressional and state-level elections." — Supreme Court grapples with messy Texas redistricting case, The Hill

• "What’s left of Ron Paul’s patience with the news media appears to be running out. During a campaign stop here Monday morning, Mr. Paul abruptly cut off a brief interview with the CNN reporter Dana Bash when she asked about his ability to connect with voters in New Hampshire." — Paul Cuts Off CNN, Again, The New York Times

• "For months, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and his supporters complained about being ignored by the mainstream media despite his strong poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire. Now that the press is all over him, the iconoclastic candidate appears to be struggling with the onslaught of attention." — Ron Paul’s relationship with press getting testy, The Washington Post

• "Not only is Perry running last among the six major candidates on the New Hampshire ballot with 1 percent in the polls, he also trails former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, who was excluded from every presidential debate, in three of the most recent surveys. It’s a big reason why Perry high-tailed it out of the Granite State after Sunday’s Meet the Press debate and headed for his final stand in South Carolina. Back in New Hampshire, it’s leaving former supporters and long-time presidential observers wondering what might have been." — Why Rick Perry has tanked in New Hampshire, Houston Chronicle

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "It’s been a long time since Gov. Rick Perry tore into the presidential front-runner, but on Monday he let Mitt Romney have it. Perry mocked the former Massachusetts governor for saying recently that he sometimes lived with the fear of losing his own job." — Perry Rips Romney in South Carolina

• "The Denver Broncos may have defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in their wild-card playoff game, but are they prepared for the Texas A&M University legal department?" — TAMU Takes on Tebow's Team Over "12th Man" Trademark