10/05/2008

Suburbs lean McCain, but GOP hold there weakens
WASHINGTON – New polling shows John McCain with a 48-42 lead in the suburbs. And that may not be enough to overcome Barack Obama 's dominance in urban areas.

09/21/2008

Texas Watch: Hurricane Ike was a chance for Bush to show softer side
WASHINGTON – One lesson the Bush administration learned the hard way after Hurricane Katrina is that when disaster strikes, the public expects a personal touch – a show of empathy, engagement and oversight.

09/14/2008

Texas Watch: Immigration issue expected to resurface when debates start
WASHINGTON – Immigration reform was once Sen. John McCain's signature issue – and a key ingredient in his maverick image. Democrats have largely avoided the subject, but there are signs they'll be using the issue this fall to challenge the Republican presidential nominee's maverick claim.

08/23/2008

Texas Watch: He's not Obama's VP pick, but buzz boosts Chet Edwards' visibility
Waco congressman Chet Edwards didn’t get the nod. Barack Obama picked Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate.

08/17/2008

Plano congressman dogs the IRS
Sam Johnson is a brave man. Not the part about surviving seven years as a POW in Vietnam. No, the Plano congressman's courage has been on display more recently – such as when he took aim at an arcane tax rule involving cellphones and called IRS agents a bunch of weenies.

07/20/2008

Texas Watch: Lobbyist's boasts are questioned
WASHINGTON – Name-dropping is a coin of the realm for lobbyists. It's whom you know, or claim to. Throwing money around helps, too.

06/29/2008

Gun-rights victory gives Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison political ammo
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's crusade to scrap the District of Columbia's handgun ban could pay political dividends – but not, she says, by bolstering her chances of being John McCain's running mate.

06/15/2008

Cornyn considers taking key role in GOP fight for Senate seats
The ranks of Senate Republicans have thinned, and the team will go through a challenging, even painful rebuilding phase next year. Sen. John Cornyn may try to lead that effort.

06/08/2008

Obama must make himself known to Hispanic voters
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama won ugly. He lost most of the final contests. He lost key states by landslide margins, even after everyone besides Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed the race was over. He struggled to connect with blue-collar whites.

06/01/2008

Cheney could be charm or curse in GOP's bid to regain DeLay's seat
Republicans badly want Tom DeLay's old congressional seat back, and they're already sending big guns. Vice President Dick Cheney comes to Houston on Friday to replenish GOP nominee Pete Olson's coffers.

05/25/2008

Dallas Republican proposes cure for what ails GOP
The last time House Republicans were this lost, they turned to Newt Gingrich to lead them from the wilderness. He put together a Contract With America to give voters a clear way to distinguish the D's from the R's.

05/18/2008

These days, nothing's 'safe' for Republicans
It's depressing to be a House Republican these days. Dark moods, sleeplessness – it's all understandable after losing yet another "safe" House district last week, this one in rural Mississippi.

05/11/2008

Clinton supporter's plan to stay quiet ends loudly
As the Democratic presidential contest winds down, just about every Texas Democrat in Congress has picked a side.

04/27/2008

Sen. Cornyn criticizes McCain's gas-tax holiday proposal
There's more pain at the pump than ever. Truckers know it. Commuters know it. Politicians feel your pain.