Sen. John Cornyn called Texas only “marginally” Republican Tuesday morning, less than a week after a primary that drew the most GOP voters in at least 30 years. Cornyn offered that analysis of the Texas political landscape as he fielded questions about the possibility of a special election in the event Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns before her full term ends in 2012. "Texas is still a marginally red state, although that will be tested by Bill White, who is a serious contender for governor," he told reporters. White, the former Houston mayor, won the Democratic nomination for governor in a landslide, and a Rasmussen poll taken afterward showed him trailing Gov. Rick Perry by only six percentage points. That was apparently enough to grab the attention of Cornyn.

--U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says the scene at this year's State of the Union address by President Obama was "very troubling," and he wonders if justices should even attend in the future.With members of the court seated before him in the House chamber, Obama chided the court in January for its decision that corporations and unions could freely spend money to run political ads for or against specific candidates.Speaking to law students Tuesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Roberts said anyone is free to criticize the court. But he said the scene of a president dressing down the court in front of Congress was "very troubling." 

--Charleston County Councilman Vic Rawl kicked off his campaign for U.S. Senate on Monday in South Carolina, adding a well-known Lowcountry Democrat with legislative experience to the race for conservative Republican Sen. Jim DeMint's seat.

--A bill that would have allowed certain inmates to earn time toward early release died Tuesday in the Mississippi. The House bill’s original intent was to give the state Parole Board discretion on the revocation of certain convicts’ parole. But Senate Corrections Committee Chairman Willie Simmons, a Democrat from Cleveland, said his committee inserted the early release language.