Free Republic

Upon Chief Justice Taney’s death, President Lincoln was tasked with replacing the Chief Justice of SCOTUS.  Monty Blair had served as a loyal friend throughout Lincoln’s first administration.  Likewise, Edward Bates had proven his loyalty to Lincoln over-and-over again.  Both were well qualified men.  Both greatly desired the position.  Yet, in the end, Lincoln knew that there was but one choice that would best serve the Union.  He knew that although Salmon Chase had essentially been dismissed from his Cabinet in disgrace and although Chase had been anything but loyal to Mr. Lincoln, Chase was an abolitionist and the one...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has strong support from repeated Republican primary voters as well as senior citizens, two groups that are more likely to turn out for a July runoff for U.S. Senate, according to a Dewhurst campaign memo written by pollster Mike Baselice. Supporters of former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite who placed second in Tuesday’s vote, have argued that Cruz would be favored in a runoff because his supporters are more enthusiastic and likely to show up for an unusual, mid-summer vote. So the Baselice memo was clearly intended to rebut that argument. Recent...

The battle to be the Texas GOP Senate nominee is this year’s most important Senate election. Tea Party backed Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz overcame long odds on Tuesday, and forced establishment favorite Lt. Governor David Dewhurst into a runoff in the race for the open Texas U.S. Senate seat. "Dewhurst failed to get a majority because he failed to fight for conservative principles. His false attacks backfired," Senator Jim DeMint, a Cruz supporter, tweeted Tuesday night. According to The Dallas Morning News, Dewhurst, who spent more than $20 million of personal funds to get elected lieutenant governor in 2002,...

The Texas Republican Senate primary is headed for a runoff, after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst fell just shy of 50 percent of the vote Tuesday. Dewhurst will face former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, a favorite of the tea party, in the July 31 runoff. The winner of that runoff will be a heavy favorite to succeed retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), after Democrats failed to land a top-tier recruit. With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Dewhurst led Cruz 46 percent to 32 percent. Seven other candidates split the vote enough, though, to push the two into a runoff.

With the Texas state primary just days away, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is in the lead to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate, and according to some observers, one of the factors he has working in his favor is fear. In Texas, the lieutenant governorship is a hugely powerful position. Its occupant is the leader of the state senate, meaning he appoints committee chairmen and members, determines the order in which bills are taken up, and decides which committees get to handle specific pieces of legislation. At the very least, everyone has to be aware of the sway...

A new poll of the Texas Republican Senate primary race shows conservative candidate Ted Cruz surging to nearly within the margin of error against moderate establishment front-runner David Dewhurst.  The University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Dewhurst at 40 percent and Cruz at 31 percent. Cruz had been trailing the self-financed Dewhurst by over 20 percent, so this poll shows him closing strong.  Early voting started last week in Texas, and the primary is on Tuesday, May 29. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top-two vote getters will be in a run-off...

Ted Cruz won’t go to the U.S. Senate to get along in the U.S. Senate, the candidate told Gregg County Republicans on Wednesday in Longview. “We need to draw a line in the sand,” the Republican told some 40 party members, after recalling a Dallas Morning News editorial panel asking about the need for compromise in Washington, D.C. “At this point, I literally laughed out loud,” Cruz said. “If you’re looking for an established moderate who will go to Washington and work across the aisle and compromise, and continue this spending and building the debt deeper ... I’m not the...

In the Republican primary, the competition for the U.S. Senate nomination is a race to the right and a crowded one at that. Though there are nine candidates in the race, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is the best known and certainly the best financed. Dewhurst acts like the chosen one, but GOP voters looking for a no pretense, no apologies conservative found one in challenger Ted Cruz. [Snip] Cruz has a big intellect and doesn't mind taking it for a spin around the room. He's smart; he knows it and you know it within minutes of talking to him. Yet,...

A super PAC supporting Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst's Senate campaign has released an internal poll showing him at 57 percent in the GOP race with less than three weeks left until the primary. The poll shows Dewhurst at 57 percent, followed by Ted Cruz at 16 percent, Tom Leppert at 12 percent, and Craig James at 4 percent. Eleven percent were undecided. If Dewhurst finishes with over 50 percent of the vote on May 29, he wins the nomination outright. If not, the top two finishers will advance to a July 31 runoff. The Perception Insight poll of 800...

Texas’s Ted Cruz has come a long way in his quest to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the United States Senate. He has spent the better part of the last year slowly closing the polling gap with his principal rival, the better-known lieutenant governor David Dewhurst, to the point that a runoff between the two now seems the likeliest of outcomes in the May 29 primary. But finishing a strong second isn’t an outcome worthy of an articulate, principled conservative such as Cruz. He can and should win a runoff with Dewhurst, become the Republican nominee, and be elected the...

Gov. Rick Perry left no doubt this time. In Plano on Wednesday, Perry told KTVT-TV (Channel 11) reporter Jack Fink that he's backing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for Texas' open seat in the U.S. Senate. "The fact is I'm a loyal individual, if I'm nothing else, and David's been a loyal supporter of mine," Perry said. "And I in turn am a loyal supporter of him and his task to become the next U.S. senator from Texas." On Jan. 2, while campaigning in Iowa on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, then-presidential candidate Perry gave Dewhurst, who was standing behind...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry this morning endorsed David Dewhurst for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison... In a tweet this morning, Dewhurst (@DavidHDewhurst) declared, “I’m honored that veteran and conservative champion @GovernorPerry is endorsing our campaign for U.S. Senate"... Perry praised Dewhurst’s loyalty and said he was glad to return the favor.

Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, a Republican, went rogue this morning on Houston's KTRH 740 radio. "I'm supporting Rick Perry for president. We agree on so, so many things. But on the case of in-state tuition, where folks are here illegally, I have a real problem," Dewhurst said. Dewhurst is running for the U.S. Senate to replace outgoing Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. This is a case of Dewhurst wanting to distance himself from the issue that has plagued Texas Governor Rick Perry with the conservative base of the G.O.P. Dewhurst is in a five-way race to win the Senate nomination...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is breaking with Gov. Rick Perry by opposing in-state college tuition rates for illegal immigrants. Dewhurst, running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison, says he understands Perry's arguments but says his stance is all about fairness.

"He (Sen. Ogden) had been considered a possible candidate for lieutenant governor if incumbent David Dewhurst wins his race for the U.S. Senate in 2012. By law, Dewhurst's replacement would be a sitting senator voted on by his colleagues. The chosen person could then immediately be promoted to governor if Gov. Rick Perry is successful in his race for the White House. If that happened, the Senate would choose another of its members to be lieutenant governor. But Ogden said that he doesn't think that he can be that choice now that he isn't running for re-election."

The movement to draft Tommy Lee Jones to run as a Democrat to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison is most likely doomed to failure, but a new poll shows Jones might be a viable candidate. Public Policy Polling released its survey today on the 2012 Senate race, and it shows Jones with the best favorable/unfavorable combo among possible candidates. It also shows he is within range of two Republican candidates, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, in head-to-head matchups. Dewhurst beats him 43-39 percent, and Leppert by only 38-37. "A Jones candidacy is probably a pipe dream...

Texas lawmakers may reconsider a bill to outlaw controversial airport pat-downs, the sponsor of legislation that was shelved recently said this week. Texas state Rep. David Simpson (R) said that Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst asked Gov. Rick Perry to include the measure in a special session of the Texas legislature. Dewhurst reported asked lawmakers to withdraw the bill when federal officials threatened to cancel flights to Texas if it passed. But he has since had a change of heart, Simpson told fans on his Facebook page. "The Lt. Gov. sent a letter to Gov. Perry asking him to include...

A boisterous group of protesters angry over the Texas Senate’s failure to vote on the airport groping bill tried to enter the public gallery this afternoon and were blocked by state troopers. Shouting “treason” and “cowards” and carrying signs and placards, and led by radio talk show host Alex Jones, the group of perhaps as many as 100 people entered the State Capitol shortly after 3 p.m. and first went to the House chamber. There, House members quickly informed the shouting group that it was the Senate that had failed to take action late Tuesday on House Bill 1937, which...

A threat from the federal government to shut down Texas airports or cancel flights may have killed legislation by Tea Party conservatives in the Texas Capitol to prohibit federal Transportation Security Agents from conducting "invasive searches." “I don’t cave in to heavy handed threats by the federal government,” said an angry Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the Senate sponsor of the bill, who ultimately withdrew the bill. House Bill 1937, which was passed by the House earlier this month, would make it a misdemeanor offense for a federal security agent to “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly [touch] the anus, sexual organ, buttocks,...

Next year’s U.S. Senate primary in Texas offers a wide range of choices. RedState has previously noted our strong preference for either former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz or former railroad commissioner Michael Williams – both of whom have proven themselves as articulate and reliable champions of conservative principles. On the next tier are former Texas secretary of state Roger Williams and current railroad commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, whose commitment to conservative principles may be somewhat shakier but at least are mouthing the right words so far in this campaign. And then there is Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, or as...

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R), whose Senate Conservatives Fund is a major Tea Party fundraising force, chimed in Friday morning on which candidates he may endorse in the open seat Texas Senate race. In an e-mail to supporters less than 24 hours after Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) announced she won't seek re-election, DeMint poured cold water on the potential candidacy of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) and touted potential contenders Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams (R) and former solicitor general Ted Cruz (R).

WASHINGTON – Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst warned this morning that the new federal health care legislation will bust Texas’ budget – saddling state taxpayers with $27 billion in extra costs over the next decade. “That’s an astounding number for us,” Dewhurst told the Texas State Society over breakfast, including a half-dozen members of Congress. “We’re on the hook for all those folks we’ve been trying to get to sign up for Medicaid.” Doubling the state’s Medicaid rolls, he said, will mean that health care claims an ever-bigger share of the state budget. And that segment has already grown from one-quarter...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer since 2003, is hankering for the United States Senate seat Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she'll relinquish late this year to concentrate on her Republican primary challenge to Gov. Rick Perry. But Dewhurst reportedly grew tired of hearing rumors that Republican Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott would file for lieutenant governor regardless, and announced for re-election. Dewhurst apparently wants to have a fallback position if Hutchison hasn't resigned by the Jan. 4 filing deadline. "They don't know what's happening," one close observer said of those watching closely to see what Hutchison does. "My...

A North Carolina-based polling firm says the race to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the US Senate will be very close but that Republicans Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott currently have the best chances of squeaking out a win. The poll from Public Policy Polling polled likely Texas voters on Dewhurst, Abbott, Republican State Sen. Florence Shapiro and two Democratic contenders: Houston Mayor Bill White and former Comptroller John Sharp.

One of the most significant taxpayer lawsuits is about to go to jury-trial in Austin, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has thus far refused to be deposed -- despite being a defendant in the case.

Just paying for promised cuts in local school property tax rates over the next two years would put lawmakers $4 billion or more over a constitutional cap on state spending. So as an option, leaders are looking at tying a legislative vote to exceed the cap to the tax relief. "You offer a bill that reduces property taxes and you tell everybody that the amount of money involved exceeds the spending cap, and let's vote," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden. "We're exceeding the spending cap so we can cut your property taxes. I think everybody'll vote for that."...

KSEV morning talk-show host and executive director of CLOUT: Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes has announced his intention to file a lawsuit designed to force state government to comply with strict spending limits written into the Texas State Constitution. Article 8, Section II of that fine document was approved by 84% of Texas voters in 1979, and reads as follows: In no biennium shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues not dedicated by this constitution exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy. Here’s the problem– the legislature hasn’t been doing this. Instead, they’ve...

AUSTIN - The state's biennial spending limit is an artificial gauge of the economy that allows unconstitutional and excessive spending on state agencies and programs, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a conservative taxpayer watchdog group. The constitution requires that the state budget not exceed economic growth. The Legislative Budget Board determines that limit before each regular legislative session, based on personal income of all Texans. The limit for the current budget was set at about $56 billion. But the group Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes is arguing that personal income gives an inflated measure of the economy and...

Oil industry greed cited by Dewhurst ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst believes the oil and petrochemical industry is being greedy in its opposition to a proposed bill that would reform the way businesses in the state are taxed. Dewhurst, a Republican who presides over the state Senate, said special interest groups including the Texas Oil and Gas Association and the Texas Chemical Council are trying to kill legislation that would close tax loopholes exploited by some corporations in Texas. The legislation is intended to help fix the state's ailing public school finance system. "They're making themselves...

Perry political future may depend on passing education, tax reform ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - Republican Gov. Rick Perry wanted badly to change the way Texas schools are funded and reduce homeowners' property taxes. His political future may well depend on it. Despite Perry's desire and coaxing, lawmakers left town without getting the job done. Their 140-day regular session ended Monday with no plan in place, despite some promising last-minute negotiations. Perry called it a "disappointment." He reiterated Tuesday that if House and Senate leaders continue working toward an agreement, he may call a special session. He said he'll keep...

GOP ready for an Alamo City wrangle Thursday, June 3, 2004 The newer, more bare-knuckled Republican Party of Texas that increasingly tends to eat its own opens its biennial convention in San Antonio today. It was here in 1996 that Republican convention delegates almost denied then-Gov. George W. Bush leadership of the Texas delegation to the national convention in San Diego, and a backstage deal had to be worked out to allow U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who supports abortion rights, to be a delegate at all. But that passed, and both went. And now Bush is president, and Hutchison...

Perry wasn't always afraid of new taxes Thursday, May 27, 2004 The news is a commentary on the Texas Legislature's spending habits. "Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, in Midland Tuesday, called for the state to up its share of school funding by 20 percent, restoring it to a level not seen in half a century," said a story in the May 20 Midland Reporter-Telegram. From the same day's Austin American-Statesman: "Caseworkers in the state's elderly care program need more training, better tools to determine mental capacity and more immediate feedback from supervisors, according to preliminary results of a review released...

Story last updated at 4:39 a.m. Thursday, May 27, 2004 Perry knocks top 10 percent admissions law AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday the state needs to overhaul a law requiring state colleges and universities to accept all students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class. The law, passed in 1997, was intended to boost minority admissions after a lawsuit ended affirmative action in admissions policies. "I clearly think it is a problem in the state of Texas when you've got highly qualified young men and women leaving the state of Texas because...

Perry appears ready to call special session AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry has told Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick that he will announce this week a special legislative session in mid-April to address school finance, sources told The Associated Press on Thursday. Spokespeople in Perry's office said he has no plans to call a session this week but would not deny that Perry made those comments to Dewhurst and Craddick. "I'm not privy to his conversations," said spokesman Robert Black. "The governor speaks with the speaker and lieutenant governor these days literally on a daily...

Runoffs to replace state Senate icons Associated Press Accusations have been flying and the money has been flowing in East and West Texas as state Senate candidates engage in runoff elections today to replace Republicans Bill Ratliff and Teel Bivins. The two longtime senators resigned, and an election in January to replace them did not produce a winner. The top two candidates in each race advanced to a runoff. In West Texas, Kel Seliger, who served four terms as mayor of Amarillo, faces fellow Republican and Odessa businessman Kirk Edwards in District 31 to replace Bivins. District 31 includes Dallam,...

Redistricting doesn't stop Democrats Thursday, January 22, 2004 The re-redistricting bomb that U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay dropped on white Texas Democrats in Congress was huge. However, all but two have filed for re-election anyway. Wouldn't it be ironic if several won? Ralph Hall of Rockwall switched to the Republicans, whom he'd been with for years in all but the initial after his name, anyway. And Jim Turner of Crockett decided not to run again. With $1 million in his campaign bank, he says he might run for governor or the U.S. Senate in 2006. But the main Democrats targeted...

Seliger, Edwards face runoff to fill Bivins' District 31 seat AUSTIN (AP) — Former Amarillo Mayor Kel Seliger and Odessa businessman Kirk Edwards, both Republicans, are headed for a runoff election for the state Senate District 31 seat. The special election was called to re place Sen. Teel Bivins, who resigned after he was nominated by President Bush to serve as ambassador to Sweden. Seliger received 36 percent of the vote with 100 percent of the precincts re porting. Ed wards, 44, pulled in 21 percent of the vote. "I'm just very excited and energized by it and ready to...

Senate could get another maverick Thursday, December 25, 2003 The Jan. 10 retirement of state Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, could bring to the Senate someone as independent as he is. The lone Democrat in the Jan. 20 special election is former House Education Committee chairman Paul Sadler of Henderson. The main Republican candidates are state Rep. Tommy Merritt of Longview and former Tyler Mayor Kevin Eltife. Sadler, 48, a plaintiff's attorney, started his freshman session in 1991 by lecturing his colleagues that a lottery was wrong, and then ran a brief and ill-fated campaign for speaker. But he buckled...

By KELLEY SHANNON Associated Press Writer AUSTIN Dominance was the magic word for Texas politics in 2003. Republicans dominated the political landscape as they made deep budget cuts, placed limits on civil lawsuits and pushed through a GOP congressional redistricting plan despite the protests and road trips of Democrats. ”Texas politics? Year of the elephant,” summed up Tony Proffitt, a veteran political consultant who was an aide to the late Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock. The GOP already held all the statewide offices and had the edge in the Texas Senate before the 2002 elections. With a sweeping victory, Republicans...

Happy new Steer. The January TEXAS MONTHLY contains the thirtieth installment of our Bum Steer Awards, which, er, celebrate notable acts of buffoonery in the previous twelve months. As always, we couldn't do it without you—and by "you" I mean the stupid crooks, lunkheaded politicians, vapid actresses, and other dim bulbs in the state chandelier whose exploits elate us so. This year, the faulty filament faction includes lifetime Mensa member Jessica Simpson, acquitted people person Robert Durst, Paris High School's Farmland Uber Alles marching band, and at the head of the crass, the Perrymanderers who didn't DeLay their plans to...

Dewhurst: Bitter dispute behind us By Tricia Cortez Times staff writer On his second visit to Laredo as lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst made it clear Friday the bitter and contentious redistricting fights, which tore apart the genteel Texas Senate, are "behind us." He also quashed rumors that he may be considering a run for governor against Rick Perry. "I enjoy being lieutenant governor, and I will run for re-election as lieutenant governor, unless something drastic happens," Dewhurst told the editorial board of the Laredo Morning Times. "I fully expect to be re-elected," added Dewhurst, who was accompanied by state Sen....

Ratliff stepping down BY NATALIE GOTT Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - State Sen. Bill Ratliff, a Republican who served for two years as acting lieutenant governor and recently denounced the GOP-led congressional redistricting effort, said Thursday he is resigning. Quoting from the Bible, Ratliff said "to every thing there is a season." He said now is his "time for going out." Ratliff, 67, made the announcement in his district in Mount Pleasant and in Austin. He also delivered a letter to the governor's office that said he plans to retire effective Jan. 10, exactly 15 years after he was sworn...

Legislature to meet in redistricting finale Associated press AUSTIN (AP) — With a big Texas football weekend under way, House Democrats took advantage of dwindling legislative attendance and again broke a quorum in their battle to block redistricting. The lawmakers' disappearance Friday night meant the House — which already had approved a Republican congressional redistricting bill — could not vote on a government reorganization bill some senators coveted. So Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Republicans decided to wait to vote on new congressional district boundaries that favor the GOP. Both the House and Senate are to meet today in...

Redistricting one step closer BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - The family feud appears over and Texas Republicans are a step closer to having a majority in the state's congressional delegation. "The majority of the voters in the state of Texas support President George W. Bush and his policies. The majority of our congressional delegation does not, and that's just not fair," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Thursday as Republican leaders unveiled a redistricting map that would put more Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation. It likely would put more Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation, where Democrats...

DeLay continues effort to end Texas redistricting squabble Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was in the Texas Capitol for a second consecutive day Tuesday, attempting to broker an agreement between state lawmakers squabbling over a congressional redistricting map. With Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick and Gov. Rick Perry out of town, DeLay and other lawmakers indicated that negotiators were making progress on a map that would put more Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation. "We are very, very close," De Lay said, leaving a morning meeting in Dewhurst's office. "The lieutenant...

Legislators eye juggling primary date Negotiators sweat over map while clock keeps on ticking AUSTIN (AP) — Texas' Republican leaders seem to have no qualms about taking Texas out of the "Super Tuesday" primary next year in order to incorporate still-developing changes in congressional lines onto the ballot. But as options narrow with each tick of the clock, some Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature say they are not convinced that delaying the state's primary is in the best interest of Texas. As Republican House and Senate negotiators continue to toil over a district map that would put more GOP...

Following the leader? What leader? Thursday, September 25, 2003 The Democratic senators are back in the Capitol. But congressional redistricting isn't a done deal — this time because of the Republicans. They might have a tougher time agreeing on a map than they did getting the Democrats to return. Perry, who declined to call a special session after the Legislature couldn't agree on a map in 2001, could have escaped involvement had redistricting happened in the regular session last spring. But once House Democrats shut that down by heading to Oklahoma, Perry's job forced his involvement — if he considered...

Senate gives nod to redistricting plan By SEBASTIAN KITCHEN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL AUSTIN — The Texas Sen ate, by an 18-13 vote largely along party lines, tentatively passed a redistricting bill Tues day night that keeps three West Texas congressional districts largely intact. Sen. Teel Bivins of Amarillo was the lone Republican to vote against the bill. The action by the Senate sets the stage for negotiations with the House, which has passed a far different plan — one that gives House Speaker Tom Craddick the district he's seeking for Midland. The Senate plan keeps Lubbock and Midland in Congres sional District...

West Texas district is thorn in Republican plan BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - What started as a frenzy between Democrats and Republicans could be determined by roughnecks and cotton farmers. West Texans in Midland and Lubbock are at the center of a Republican legislative stalemate over congressional redistricting. Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland said he's not negotiating over the design of West Texas' congressional districts. Republican Sen. Robert Duncan of Lubbock, chair of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee that is tackling redistricting, says he won't vote on a map his constituents don't like. "He's got to...

Young: The Three Redistricteers By John Young, Opinion page editor Recently on a Dallas radio talk show, Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged the turmoil over the three special sessions he has called to redraw congressional lines. Sure, it's been divisive and costly. But once it happens, he said, Texans will forget all about it. It's interesting that Perry has spent the last three months trying to bring about something he wants voters to forget. Look into his eyes. You are getting sleepy. You'd think a leader would want to do things that people would remember as good for the commonwealth. But...