Former Ambassador Tom Schieffer's (D) decision to leave the Texas governor's race leaves a gaping hole for an establishment candidate, a space many people expect Houston Mayor Bill White to fill. Schieffer, the brother of "Face the Nation" host and all-around-great-guy Bob Schieffer is expected to leave the contest later today, according to a report in the Texas Tribune. And, according to a source familiar with White's thinking, the Mayor, who is currently running for the not-yet-open seat held by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), will announce whether he will switch races as soon as tomorrow. The expectation is that he will make the switch although no one with intimate knowledge of White's thinking appears to be talking. If White does run for governor, he gives Democrats a credible candidate who would be positioned to benefit from what is already a very nasty primary fight between Hutchison and Gov. Rick
Kansas Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore will leave the House in 2010, a decision that hands Republicans a golden opportunity for a pickup next year. Brandon Naylor, communications director for Moore, confirmed the news, which was first reported by the Kansas City Star's Steve Kraske, and said that the Congressman would be releasing a statement on his decision later this morning. Moore's decision is an interesting one given that he was being only lightly targeted by national Republicans after weathering a series of brutal battles earlier in the decade. Regardless of the "why", Moore's departure makes his eastern Kansas seat a major Republican target next year. President Barack Obama narrowly won the seat with 51 percent in 2008 and then President George W. Bush carried it by 11 points in 2004. Republicans, surprised by the announcement, were unsure of what the field would look like to replace Moore although the first
1. President Obama meets with his Cabinet this afternoon at a critical time -- on both the domestic and foreign fronts -- for his administration. Obama won a victory over the weekend with the Senate's vote to bring his health care bill to the floor for debate but statements by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) among others on the Sunday talks shows suggest that trouble lurks -- most notably over whether or not a public option will make the final version of the bill (if, of course, there is a final version of the bill). Internationally, Obama's decision on Afghanistan is expected any day -- make sure to read the Post's Mike Shear's terrific piece on the ever-shrinking calendar -- but it has become increasingly clear that the time the president has taken to make the decision has actually complicated things. Wrote the Post's Dan Balz in his Sunday Take: "The
We chatted live on Friday with Fixistas from around the country about politics, the universe and everything. Among the hot topics: more analysis of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (if that's possible), a look at some of the best Senate races of 2010, and an update on the Fix's quest to become the "homeless man's Bill Simmons". A few of our favorite questions are below. The full transcript is here. Have a great weekend and drink a gingerbread latte for us! Gainesville, Va.: Hello Chris, Thank you for taking my question. Do you think that Sarah Palin is sacrificing a Presidential run in 2012 for the sake of promoting her book and other self interests? I get the feeling that she knows she doesn't have a snowball's chance in 2012 and this book and promotion are a vehicle for generating an income. She does have knack for taking advantage of
The Republican Governors Association held its annual meeting earlier this week in Austin, Texas, a gathering where -- for the first time in recent memory -- the GOP had something to celebrate: the twin victories of Govs.-elect Chris Christie (N.J.) and Bob McDonnell (Va.) earlier this month. Of the gathering, the Post's Dan Balz wrote: "Republican governors wrapped up a two-day pep rally on Thursday with an expression of confidence that the political winds have begun to shift in their direction, thanks to what they called a backlash among many voters against the policies of the Obama administration." Jonathan Martin of Politico quoted Gov. Jim Douglas (Vt.), a sometime-ally of President Barack Obama, insisting that "the American people believe that the folks in Washington are overreaching, that the pendulum is swinging too far." While these sorts of gatherings always take on the feel of a high school pep rally before
