Cornyn vs. CHIP

Sen. John Cornyn – enemy of children’s health! (That’s not us speaking – It’s just a little tease for you of what the Democratic campaign against the junior US Senator for Texas will look like next year.)

On Thursday, Cornyn voted against House Resolution 976, the bill to re-authorize the federal component of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). To be fair to Cornyn, the bill was originally called the Small Business Tax Relief Act, and contained several significant non-CHIP tax components. So it’s hard to tell whether he was voting against CHIP or against some other part of the bill. But it can’t look good when Texas’ other senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, submitted an amendment that would have increased CHIP eligibility for families living in high-cost areas.

Of course, this will come up again next year when he defends his senate seat. In fact, Chronic only found out about the vote because the Texas Democratic Party sent out a press release. Although some pol watchers are boosting Corpus Christi lawyer Mikal Watts's run for the Democratic nomination, he seems to bring little to the table beyond a big war chest. Dems might be concerned that Watts could quickly turn into another Tony Sanchez (who spent a fortune on a losing run against Gov Rick Perry in 2002.) As the only other declared Dem in the race, seasoned campaigner Rick Noriega (who as a big city, law-and-order, five-term Hispanic state rep seems like he may have been grown in a idealized Texas Democratic candidate laboratory somewhere) may be rubbing his hands today.