Via Lone Star Times, some news from the Republican primary in HD130, where Sen. Dan Patrick is seeking a little revenge on Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale via his proxy, Allen Fletcher. Basically, there was a poll conducted, whose details you can see here (PDF) that shows Van Arsdale's approval and support is somewhat soft. I'll let you peruse it for yourself, but a couple of observations:

- This is a push partisan poll. Not an egregious one, of the "Would your opinion of Senator Bedfellow change if you learned that he regularly kicks puppies?" variety, but a push partisan poll nonetheless. There's nothing wrong with this, as the point is to demonstrate that voters can be swung by a particular candidate's message, but it does mean that message has to get out there - a lot - in order for those votes to swing. I'm guessing that Fletcher isn't having too much trouble raising money (we'll know for sure soon enough), which is the key factor here. Basically, expect there to be a lot of negative mail sent about Rep. Van Arsdale.

- Idle question, as I don't listen to talk radio: Is Danno back on the air? And if so, as he is now an elected official, is there any restriction on him saying things like "Vote for Allen Fletcher!" on the air? One could argue that this would count as an in-kind contribution to Fletcher's campaign, which in turn would need to be reported as such by Patrick. I don't know what the law may be here, and it may be moot anyway if he's not broadcasting. So I'm just wondering.

- One reason I ask this is because the poll shows a high favorable rating among the sampled voters for Danno. Clearly, he's an asset for Fletcher. One would think that the best way to leverage this asset is the same way that most of the HD130 voters likely know Danno, via his radio platform. If he can't do that, then I wonder how much of an asset he really is. Can the "Approved by Dan Patrick!" message get out enough by other means?

- I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the fervent belief (delusion, if you ask me) among the sampled voters that their property taxes are way too high. Seriously. All I can say is same planet, different worlds.

Anyway, it's an interesting read, and there's more here. Check it out.

UPDATE: My use of the term "push poll" was incorrect, as pointed out by Kevin in the comments. I have changed my wording accordingly. As did Cory, I stand behind everything else I said.