It seems King has finally divorced his first political wife and married his long-time political mistress. A Dallas Morning News article this morning said, “Rep. Phil King, who opposed Straus last session, said that the speaker has widespread support, and that Simpson is too inexperienced to close the sale.” With this line, together with a…

The Texas Tribune carried Straus propaganda in a guest column from Rep. Lyle Larson last week. In it, Larson used the tired line about how conservative the 82nd Legislature was. As an aside, it is notable that Straus has to run PR on the Tribune to bolster his conservative credibility. Weren’t we told Straus was so comfortable…

With nothing to do, Texas liberals are reduced to dreamy forecasts about the future of Texas politics. They’ve gone from “hope and change” to “hope and pray,” except that they don’t generally pray. The clung-to hope among Texas liberals, and it is their only hope, is that as Hispanics become a bigger percentage of the population,…

There is a lot of hot air filling the Parent PAC balloon right now in Austin, and it isn’t necessarily Parent PAC’s fault. In a panel discussion last week moderated by Evan Smith, journalists rehearsed the talking point that is coming to carry more and more of the moderate messaging load in Austin. It goes…

School choice will have enough allies in the 83rd legislature for it to pass. Past attempts may have suffered from overwrought strategy. The good news is that past mistakes are easily fixable. Three sessions ago school choice failed because the final legislative form it took wasn’t particularly conservative. Liberals don’t generally want school choice, yet  a common…

Since the Tea Party Awakening, conservatives in the Texas Legislature have been steadily gaining ground. The Awakening has been a high-beam spotlight, showing Texans which legislators keep the promises they all make. As it turns out, many in the bipartisan clan that runs the Texas House make promises to Texans during campaign season then legislate…

Team Straus is desperate to distract from the fact that they preserve the political relevance of the enemies of tort reform in Texas – Texas Trial Lawyer’s Association (TTLA) and the Democratic Party. First, let’s be clear: the Republican Party has carried tort reform and the Democratic Party has opposed it. While both Texans for…

For decades in our public square the culture war has been one-sided. We’ve thrown out the old and ushered in the new. Hiring writers was easy for editorial boards back when liberalism was the exciting option in the world of ideas. The rebellion has begun to stall, however, and for an unexpected reason. The march…

November will be another anti-Obama wave election in Texas. This means that down-ballot open seats and some incumbent Democrats will be available for the GOP to capture. Leaders in the Republican Party have a golden opportunity to feed the anti-Obama fire if they choose to do so. Unfortunately for conservative Texans, GOP leadership in the…