No campaign postmortem will be complete without noting the huge role played by Barack Obama in the 2010 governor’s race.
Barack Obama
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
Perry By 10 in New UT/TT Poll
Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White by 10 points — 50 percent to 40 percent — in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Libertarian Kathie Glass has the support of 8 percent of respondents; Deb Shafto of the Green Party gets 2 percent. In the last UT/TT poll, conducted in early September, Perry led by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent. In a red state in a red year, GOP incumbents in other statewide races are beating their Democratic opponents by between 13 points and 20 points, the new poll found.
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Demographics
An Hour With Bill White
On Friday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White sat down with me for an interview co-presented by the Tribune and Austin’s public broadcasting stations, KUT and KLRU. We talked about whether the big bucks he’s raised from appointees qualifies as “government for sale,” how he’d cut the shortfall, how he feels about Barack Obama, the health care reform he’d prefer, those lawsuits against the feds and more.
Posted in
Politics
Washington Weak
The battle in the 2010 governor’s race is about the battleground itself: Rick Perry wants to bind himself to voters in opposition to an intrusive and profligate Washington D.C. — meddling liberal Yankees, in other words. Bill White wants to motivate voters in opposition to what he portrays as the sorry condition of the state under Perry, the self-serving “career politician.” For White, Washington is Perry’s bogeyman to divert attention from his failures at home. For Perry, Washington is the root of the evils the state confronts — foremost, issues he says White ignores.
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State Government
2010: Bill White Interview Highlights
Highlights from Bill White’s hourlong talk with the Tribune’s Evan Smith.
Posted inState Government
The Life Jacket
For some incumbent Republican House members who might otherwise be struggling to stay above water — Harper-Brown, Bohac, Driver, Kleinschmidt, Anderson, Hartnett, Legler — President Barack Obama may be just the flotation device they need.
Posted inState Government
The Hunted
Republicans looking to grow their majority in the Texas House have set their sights on rural districts held by “WD-40s” — white Democrats over the age of 40, who hope their personal reputations will trump political considerations in what’s shaping up to be a GOP year.
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Criminal Justice
An Obama Gun Rush?
In the two years since Barack Obama was elected president, many Texas gun owners — afraid of losing their Second Amendment rights — have stocked up on weapons and ammo. Texans have also sought a record number of concealed handgun licenses. Coincidence?
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Demographics
Ads Infinitum: Rick Perry’s “Border”
Rick Perry’s campaign has released a new ad on the topic of border security that pivots off of the letter the governor hand-delivered to Barack Obama during their brief tarmac meeting in Austin.
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State Government
A Conversation With Linda Chavez-Thompson
For the 13th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor on running for office for the first time in a tough year, how she’d deal with the budget shortfall, whether she’d mess with the Senate’s two-thirds rule and what’s wrong with the Texas Enterprise Fund.
