Gov. Rick Perry is scoring some endorsements from GOP activists and officeholders, but support for Perry among his fellow Texas Republicans isn’t unanimous. The Democrats, as you might expect, are vociferously in opposition.
Michael McCaul
Perry, Lawmakers Blast Obama Over Shuttle Retirement
Texas lawmakers marked the end the of shuttle program and criticized NASA’s course on Thursday, hours after the shuttle Atlantis landed in Florida. Gov. Rick Perry singled out President Obama for criticism.
Obama: It’s Going to Take More Than One Term
After an El Paso stop that focused on immigration reform, President Barack Obama used his second stop, in Austin, to talk politics with a sea of fellow Democrats and raise money for his upcoming re-election campaign.
Updated: Do Mexican Cartels Qualify as Terrorist Organizations?
A Texas congressman is seeking to designate seven of the top Mexican cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.” Critics of the proposal fear such a designation could harm Mexico’s ability to wage its own fight against the cartels.
UT/TT Poll: Senate Race Wide Open as Voters Are Glum About Future
Most Texas voters haven’t decided, but if they voted today, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would lead the field for the Republican nomination to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom (with Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News) on high-speed police chases on the Texas-Mexico border, Hu and Hamilton draw a roadmap through the tangle of the Speaker’s Race, M. Smith on the trouble with electronic supplements to science textbooks, Ramshaw interviews patient privacy advocate Deborah Peel, Aguilar on Cuba and Texas and trade, Hamilton on the latest in biotech from Texas A&M University, Stiles on who’s in the money in Congress, Hu on the controversial renewal of the state lottery contract, yours truly on Tom DeLay’s victory in the face of his conviction on money-laundering charges, and E. Smith with a Thanksgiving cornucopia of TribLive videos: The best of our best from November 22 to 26, 2010.
TribBlog: McCaul Addresses Reporting Error
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, says his failure to report millions in stock transactions on financial disclosure reports from 2008 and 2009 resulted from a clerical error made by his accountant.
Remember Immigration?
Lawmakers are reeling from the bruising political battle over health care reform and are loath to take on another divisive issue and additional risky votes. So the prospects remain dim for legislation that would improve border security, provide a pathway to citizenship for millions and crack down on unscrupulous employers — but that doesn’t mean everyone’s forgotten about it, as the hundreds of thousands of advocates who marched on Washington, D.C., last weekend can attest.
The Capital Gang
The six Texas congressional candidates who ended the year with $1 million or more on hand are incumbents. Only two of the candidates with the 20 biggest bank accounts are not.
2010: McDonald’s Rewind
Democrat Jack McDonald surprised his supporters last month by dropping his 10-month bid for Congress. He said at the time he’d give money back to donors who want it back. Now come the details, in an email from the candidate to supporters.


