The Midday Brief: January 11, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "But while Cornyn does not believe Reid is going anywhere, the Texas senator made clear he’s hoping the issue resonates in Reid’s re-election campaign back home, where he badly trails prospective Republican opponents." — John Cornyn doesn't expect Harry Reid to resign — Politico

• "Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama's argument that more road money would address an "urgent need to accelerate job growth." —  AP IMPACT: Road projects don't help unemployment — Associated Press

• "U.S. senators cast thousands of votes, and each extensive and often confusing record is never more exposed than during an election, particularly one for an executive office. All votes, from major appropriations bills to inconsequential procedural items, are open to scrutiny." — Hutchison-Perry gubernatorial battle shows trickiness of Senate voting record — The Dallas Morning News

• "If there is a bright spot in the data, it's that in 2007 veterans in the group who used VA health care were less likely to commit suicide than those who did not. That's a change from 2005." — Increase in suicide rate of vets — Houston Chronicle

• "A veteran Republican strategist doubts that the toll road messages will sway many Republican voters. The ads also ignore that some of the state’s largest highway projects, which many Dallas-Fort Worth commuters are eager to see completed, involve toll roads and foreign companies." — Republican candidates for Texas governor attack each other over toll roads — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

• "Leibowitz says that Shami is a 'very spiritual person' who 'has not been a significant practitioner of any major faith.'" — Shami not Quaker, campaign changes answer on religion — Postcards

• "So the ESPN football analyst wants to run for KBH’s Senate seat. Here is the first question he will be asked when he announces for office: What did you know and when did you know it?" — Craig James for Senate — Burkablog

New in the Texas Tribune:

• "You’re presented with a certain choice, you have to make the best one you can and you have to move the ball in the right direction. And that may be done by hitting a single or double as a opposed to a homerun.” — Jerry Patterson on Tea Party Republicans — Texas Tribune

•"As long as they make sure they're using contributions in a way that's related to serving in office or campaigning, the recipients of your cash have a few options." — No Dollar Left Behind — Texas Tribune