The Chron follows up on yesterday's late report that David Dewhurst had basically given up on forcing HB218 through the Senate. This is very good news, to be sure, but as the man once said, it ain't over till it's over. At least as every hour passes, the threat of an old-fashioned filibuster carries more weight, since there would be collateral damage as well.

Assuming that this really is it, then Mario Perez is right to say that we owe the Democratic Senate caucus a debt of gratitude. Yeah, that includes Eddie Lucio, and John Whitmire. I'm farther along than Greg is at resolving my issues with Whitmire, but I totally get where he's coming from. At this point I'd say the slate with Whitmire is pretty much clean. And I'm glad of it.

Elsewhere, Eliot Shapleigh responds to Dewhurst's letter, and Royal Masset unequivocally states "It's a lie. It's not true. It does not exist." to Republican claims of voter fraud. Check 'em out.

UPDATE: Forgot to link to this Observer blog post.