Thursday Roundup: The Long And Winding (Toll) Road

The State Highway 121 toll project is a big deal in many circles of Texas government these days. Even though the Texas Transportation Commission says they are "encouraged by the competition," things are getting complicated. Cintra says they might sue if they don't end up with the deal; meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst finally paid attention to how people seem to feel about Cintra in general and came out in favor of the NTTA, with a few words about local control. The TTC vote on who wins is set for today.

The White House had kind of a bad day yesterday. First, Cheney comes out and says that maybe he really is a part of the executive branch. Then, the Senate Judiciary Committee sends some subpoenas down the hill to Cheney's office, and Bush's office, and even the Justice Department. The subpoenas deal with the warrantless wiretaps, a subject that has little shine or luster left for anyone, even the most stalwart right wingers who once swore that if you had nothing to hide, you should be okay with it. Things, as they say, are tough all over. No so tough as to prevent the White House from claiming executive privilege and rejecting the subpoenas, but tough. I imagine there might be a hearing or two over this — you don't usually get away with stiff-arming a Congressional subpoena.

One of the fired US attorneys offered up an interesting detail of how Alberto Gonzales operates yesterday — Gonzales had made it tantamount to official policy for the death penalty to be sought whenever possible, even in a murder trial from Arizona in which there were some evidence problems. As in, they had no body. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (who apparently had a busy day!), he outlined the details of the case which resulted in his falling out with Justice. I keep finding myself thinking that I'm not surprised that things like this happened; I'm just surprised there was so much of it. Where did these guys find the time?

John Edwards was in Houston yesterday, and predictably the Ann Coulter smear on him came up. I imagine that the reason that some in the the right wing attack Edwards so hard is because they are essentially afraid of him in a way they aren't afraid of other candidates. To them, it's the best way to deal with him; they have other ways of dealing with Obama and Clinton. I imagine it must not make the real professionals very happy, though, when Coulter makes what she thinks is a hilarious, calculated statement that, while selling her books and gaining her more infamy, ultimately ends up as a serious fundraising boon for the Edwards campaign. I wonder what they'll do with her during the general — she has obviously become an unpredictable liability for her team.

Kuff has some action on the race in Texas' 10th Congressional District, which he has talked about before. Congressional Quarterly recently looked at the race and confirmed Kuff's suspicions that incumbent Republican Mike McCaul might be somewhat vulnerable.

Lastly today, we have a few stories that seem like a natural analog for each other, and that's because they are. First up is the continued struggle in the Senate to do something on immigration reform. The floor debate yesterday on amendments was not harmonious, to say the last, and now several Republicans are saying they are going to rescind their support. Notice the conservative opinion on the bill: the Washington Times refers to it as the "Illegals bill" in the headline.

So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Hispanic vote is coming home to the Democratic party, and according to a USA Today poll, they are doing so by a margin of about 3-1. A telling quote:

"It was the family values thing" that persuaded some of her Hispanic friends and co-workers to vote Republican in 2004, says Millie Linares, 47. The middle school librarian was waiting in San Antonio's muggy heat Sunday for a rally featuring Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.

Hispanics will be more wary in 2008, predicts her sister, Gilda Lopez, 56, a speech pathologist and reliable Democrat. With a crisis in Iraq and questions at home about the GOP's attitudes toward Hispanics, she says, "I cannot understand how a Hispanic person could vote Republican."

Neither can I, but then again, I have been prone to saying that I can't understand how anyone who isn't swimming in dollars could vote Republican. Maybe that story is coming next.