The House Democratic Caucus has promised a list of 64 members who will not vote for Tom Craddick for Speaker. Via PoliTex and BOR, who lists the ten Dems not among them, here it is (PDF). As there are 12 known Republicans who oppose Craddick - hell, there's at least that many Republicans running for Speaker - that ought to give the advantage to the forces of good. A few thoughts:

- It's great to see the names Marisa Marquez and Tara Rios Ybarra among the signees. Many people, myself included, thought they were Craddick candidates. I'm thrilled to have been wrong about that.

- Perhaps this will satisfy Burka's condition that the Anybody But Craddick Republicans produce a list of solid supporters. Maybe it will get some of his more obnoxious commenters to tone it down a notch. Or maybe not. I don't think anyone can say the ball hasn't been advanced, and that's a fine thing.

- If the handwriting really is on the wall, then we should see some more Rs jumping ship, once they have some assurance they won't be exiled under new management. The same is true for the ten remaining Craddick Ds. We could easily go from 76 anti-Craddicks to 85 or more in a hurry.

- Finally, if the GOP grassroots wants to try to vent its wrath on the ABCs for teaming with so many Democrats on this, I say have at it. As I've said before, guys like Geren and Merritt have already withstood big punches from Team Craddick. Being an effective member is a strong defense against this kind of attack. There's a reason some Dems got knocked off over their Craddick support while others never even got challenged.

So there we have it, for now. Tune in tomorrow and see if any long-lost twins resurface, if someone loses or regains their memory, or if a secret affair gets revealed. That and some cheesy organ music is about all that's been missing from this.

UPDATE: Team Craddick says "Nuh uh!" to the Democrats' list. They do not, however, release a list of their own, which is both a reversal from prior years as well as something that Burka described as a no-no for the ABCs. Who's bluffing whom?