Texas: Indictment hasn’t hurt Perry. One year ago, before an Austin grand jury indicted him, Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) approval rating in Texas was 56%, according to the Texas Lyceum poll. Today, a year later, the same firm’s survey found Perry’s approval rating is 57%. The two nearly identical numbers a year apart indicate that the Travis County grand jury’s indictment of Perry for threatening to defund the county’s district attorney’s office unless DA Rosemary Lehmberg (D) resigned is not a problem for the governor in Texas. Lehmberg had been arrested in a highly publicized DUI case. The survey also found that 72% of respondents believed the charges against Perry were political, rather than legitimate criminal charges.
Kentucky: Paul believes GOP will win Senate. “The wind is blowing heavily against this president now – on all fronts, not only the economic, but the foreign policy winds,” US Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told the Louisville Courier Journal. He said three open seats “lean very, very Republican” and “six to eight other seats are up for grabs.” Paul, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, has been campaigning for Republican Senate candidates across the country, most recently in North Carolina for Thom Tillis, who is challenging US Sen. Kay Hagan (D).
South Carolina: Graham “may jump in” 2016 race. US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told the Weekly Standard that US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), his fellow foreign policy hawk, is “not quite ready” to be president. Lindsey said, “After doing immigration with him… he’s so afraid of the right, and I’ve let that go.” Graham said he might run if none of the other contenders were making the strong foreign arguments that he believes in. Stay tuned.