Free Republic

They say a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this always seemed like hyperbole, until Friday night a Texas grand jury announced an indictment of governor Rick Perry. The “crime” for which Perry faces a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison is vetoing funding for a state agency. The conventions of reporting — which treat the fact of an indictment as the primary news, and its merit as a secondary analytic question — make it difficult for people reading the news to grasp just how farfetched this indictment is.

Let me be the first to write this political obituary. I met Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for the first time in 1991, when we invited the then-Treasurer of Texas (a position that the voters retired soon after Kay was elected to the Senate) to speak to a student organization at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). She was, and is, a very gracious person who seemed in (slightly) over her head. When I asked Kay about the Texas Constitution’s Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and how it is supposed to arrest growth in state government, she made it clear that...

AUSTIN – Kay Bailey Hutchison slammed Rick Perry's decision four months ago to reject $555 million in economic stimulus money to help the unemployed, saying Friday that it was "reckless" and showed a lack of both leadership and judgment. "This is yet another Rick Perry disaster," Hutchison said in a written statement. When she was first asked about the governor's decision in March to turn down the money, she gently chastised him for not coming up with a better solution. Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the senator has not been clear on where she stands. "She's playing a game of...

AUSTIN – If Texas politics was a game about who has more money in the bank, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison would be leading. But in the expectations game played by Wall Street, those on blind dates and politicians, she's trailing Rick Perry in the GOP primary race for governor. She started out the year with a six-month head start to raise money, while Perry was tied up with the Legislature and prohibited from taking contributions. In January, she had a 20-point lead in some polls. But that juggernaut has transformed itself into a maybe not. Hutchison's problems were highlighted...

I am starting some ping lists for the 2010 Texas Governor's Race. The ping lists will expire when the election is over. Freepmail me to get on/off the lists. keyword: txgov2010 This ping list will cover all articles related to the governor's race regardless of candidate. keyword: rickperry This list will cover articles related to Governor Rick Perry, positive or negative. keyword: kbh This list will cover articles related to Senator Hutchison, positive or negative. I'll do my best not to send duplicate pings. Regards, BuckeyeTexan

A former state representative from Dripping Springs has been charged with assaulting the man who defeated him in an extremely close and frequently nasty race four years ago. A witness said Rick Green, a Republican, shoved and then punched state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, as they stood outside a polling place Tuesday morning at Sunset Canyon Baptist Church east of Dripping Springs. Rose, 28, who was leading in his bid for re-election Tuesday, said Green, 35, shoved him but didn't land a punch. "Rick lost his temper," he said. "It's unfortunate that something like this happened on Election Day."...

Even if Democrats have a watershed year nationwide, it probably won't happen in Texas, political experts say. Democrats chose not to challenge Republicans in dozens of races because at the filing deadline in early January, there was no hint that Republicans would appear to be in such political peril, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. "There are lots of people who don't want to walk into the airplane propeller," Jillson said. UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS 233 State seats Democrats are not challenging 136 State seats Republicans are not challenging 45 Tarrant County seats Democrats are not challenging...

AUSTIN (AP) - If you're an independent candidate for Texas governor and you've just been declared eligible for the November ballot, what do you do next? The answer, of course, is try to get your nickname on the ballot. Carole Keeton Strayhorn wants voters to see "Grandma" as part of her ballot name. Richard "Kinky" Friedman just wants to be known as Kinky Friedman. Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams asked both candidates Friday to supply additional information to help him make his decision. It's sounding like he'll let Kinky be Kinky, but won't let Carole be Grandma. The two...

"I support gay marriage, and I support prayer in school," he said, sitting in the living room of his cabin in Medina last month. "You know why I support prayer in school? What's wrong with a kid believing in something?" [. . .] . . . "What politicians lack is a sense of humor, a sense of reality and a sense of community service. That's what I bring to the party. "The only time the Democrats and Republicans get off their asses is to attack each other. The Democrats can't get any traction, and the Republicans can't get any legislation....

Local Politics- Texas Style What the left won't do to win..

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay defended his family Wednesday, saying newspaper articles about his wife and daughter and about his trip to Russia were "seedy" efforts by the "liberal media" to humiliate him.The New York Times reported Wednesday that DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Texas.The newspaper reports were the latest political controversies for DeLay. He has been admonished three times by the House Ethics...

AUSTIN - A week after Gov. Rick Perry's campaign tried to link one of his potential GOP primary rivals to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a 1993 letter emerged in which Perry called Clinton's efforts at health care reform "commendable." Perry's Republican allies circulated a videotape last week that has a shot of Clinton with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, at a nonpartisan event on historic preservation. The videotape played up a brief hug and air kiss between the women and featured then-first lady Clinton, now the Democratic senator from New York, saying she is "delighted that Kay is...

Texas Republicans are poised to convene in Dallas to celebrate a self-proclaimed "Year of Emergence" as the majority party in the state. But proposed rule changes to enforce ideological purity have sent shivers of fear through some GOP delegates. The changes are pushed by Robert X. Johnson, a conservative San Antonio furniture dealer and former state GOP party parliamentarian. The symbol for his campaign is a rhinoceros inside a red circle with a slash mark. His message: Stop Republicans in Name Only (RINOs). Johnson circulated an e-mail to convention delegates last week pointing out that "some candidates running for office...