The Evening Brief: Aug. 29, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   George P. Bush Pushing GOP's Hispanic Outreach: "George P. Bush, nephew and grandson of two former presidents, is stepping up his efforts to drive more Hispanics into the Texas Republican Party."

•   Texas Universities Score Well on Unconventional Ranking: "According to Washington Monthly's new college rankings, which uses unconventional methodology, Texas A&M University is the country's second-best institution. And the next best school from Texas? The University of Texas at El Paso."

•   Solar Power Could Aid Texas Electric Grid, Officials Say: "Texas lags in solar-power development, and lawmakers have been reluctant to promote it with incentives. Nonetheless, solar power can play a role in aiding Texas’ strained electric grid, industry officials and regulators said at a meeting in San Antonio."

Culled:

•   Santorum, George P. Bush address Texas delegates (Austin American-Statesman): "Some big names came to speak today at the morning meeting of the Texas delegation. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, GOP rising star George P. Bush, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott all addressed the crowd."

•   Cruz ‘surprised’ by Perry’s presidential wobble, shies away from Perry’s talk of a 2016 re-run (The Dallas Morning News): "Ted Cruz, who stayed out of this year’s GOP presidential battle until after the nomination struggle was decided, has no plans to sign up prematurely for Rick Perry’s next run. Cruz was asked Wednesday whether he was surprised by Perry’s trouble-plagued campaign for the presidency this cycle. In one hard-to-forget moment in the debates, Perry couldn’t remember three federal agencies he proposed to shutter. 'Um, I was surprised,' Cruz said in a 30 minute interview with reporters for USA Today and Gannett newspapers. 'I think Rick Perry is a good man. He is a strong governor. I think it is unfortunate how his presidential campaign played out this year.'"

•   California Defies Lower-Tax Texas In Creating More Jobs (Bloomberg): "California, which sent a delegation to Austin last year to find out how the Lone Star State had beat it in employment growth, surged ahead of Texas to lead the nation in job creation for the last two consecutive months. California added 365,100 nonfarm jobs in the year ending in July, a 2.6 percent increase and the state’s largest 12-month gain since 2000. Texas picked up 222,500, or 2.1 percent, according to U.S. Labor Department statistics. California also outpaced Texas the prior month."

•   Ann Romney Woos Hispanic Voters, Urging They Get Past ‘Their Biases’ (ABC News): "Ann Romney’s convention speech was directly aimed at wooing female voters, but at a lunch event Wednesday she changed her focus and pitched her husband to Hispanic voters, a voting bloc that is especially important in this battleground state, urging them to get past the 'biases … from the Democratic machine.'"