@ Chronic

Rudy: Officially Heading to a Primary Near You

A quick and unsurprising update from Texans for Rick Perry hit the news desk's in-tray Monday night: "Gov. Rick Perry will file candidacy papers on behalf of Rudy Giuliani for the Texas Presidential Primary."

Perry endorsed the former New York mayor back in October, and he's not the only major local pol to sign up: Comptroller Susan Combs and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams are Rudy's state chair and vice chair, while big Lone Star donors like Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens Jr. are floating the campaign in cash.

But Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson called the governor's endorsement "all hat and no cattle." He, Attorney Gen­er­al Greg Abbott, and Williams' fellow Commissioner Victor Carrillo are all rooting for Fred Thompson.

With primary season a scarce month away, however, neither Texas GOP leadership fave is doing well. The last Texas-specific Interactive Voice Response Poll had Giuliani ahead on a scant 23%, with Thompson and Mike Huckabee tied with 16%. But that was back on Nov. 15, when the Thompson campaign still had a pretense of momentum and before the latest round of revelations about Giuliani's love life. With the comparatively late Texas primaries running the risk of being irrelevant for the presidency and both leading candidates seeming to flame out, will there be a scrabble for relevancy among the state leadership before the Republican national convention?

Posted Tuesday, Dec. 11.