Tuesday Roundup: What's Perry Up To?

What does Rick Perry's fundraising blitz in the post-veto period signify? If you are David Dewhurst or Kay Bailey Hutchison, it may serve as a gentle reminder of Perry's political capabilities. If you're an interested observer, it may be the first sign of an impending war. For your consideration: will Dewhurst or Hutchison be able to stop themselves from challenging Perry to a primary in 2010 if he runs again?

Also in that story is some coverage of Noriega's official announcement of his exploratory committee yesterday. So now we have two Democratic campaigns for the Senate nomination underway, and the Republicans started their official coordinated campaign in the form of Victory '08 at roughly the same time as Noriega's announcement. The news that Roger Williams is spearheading Victory '08 is less interesting than the news that this is the earliest they've ever started their campaign effort. To me, that says that Republicans who make decisions know that 2008 will not be the proverbial cakewalk.

Speaking of problems for Republicans in 08: a few days ago I considered how Cornyn's unwavering support for Bush and his policies might be a hindrance to him as he runs for re-election. Today, Politico's Carrie Budoff asks the inverse question writ large: is having Bush's support worse than not having it for Republican Senators seeking re-election? No specific mention of the junior Senator from Texas, but it is interesting to ponder on a national level, at any rate. I wonder if anyone saw the day coming when they wouldn't want to hang out with W?

John McCain swears he is in it to win it (no limit) and thus won't be dropping out for any reason before the primaries. That either means that he will actually stay in until the bitter end or he already has his withdrawal speech drafted and ready to go the next time an entire department of his campaign quits.

The Dallas Morning News has a really scary story this morning about a recent development in which a San Antonio Express-News reporter covering cartel and drug-running activity in and around Nuevo Laredo received death threats from Zetas, which DMN describes as a 'Mafia-style hit squad.' I am always amazed to hear that some sections of the Texas-Mexico border are little better than a war zone, and threats against the press are an escalation that signal just how much power these cartels have amassed.

Lastly today, this has got to be the most amazing lede I've seen on a story in a while: Bush is getting together some international pals for a Middle East peace conference, and he's doing so, I am not making this up, 'to resolve what he said were all the outstanding issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.'

There you have it. If only we'd thought of that sooner.