People know we're running huge deficits and they know the costs have just rocketed upward. Many Americans are now looking at the Iraq situation in that context.

is going to plague him not only in his second term but in history — even in Texas.

That was an effective strategy to get through the primary. But in the general election, he'll have to face Lampson and Steve Stockman, as well as the press, both local and national.

President Bush is trying to regain his footing and develop some policy momentum for his second term, and this is just another weight around his ankles.

It's hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. The fact that he wasn't able to build on that achievement (in 1996) is a comment on the uniqueness of that race and what he had to offer as a candidate.

The Republican governor and the Republican majority in the Legislature are unable to close that out. The fact they have failed to deal with public education, either education reforms or funding, has come home to roost.