President

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk said late Wednesday that he had met with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, according to The Dallas Morning News.

"I'm happy where I am, but if the president needs me, it's something I have to seriously consider," Kirk told the newspaper.

Kirk, a Democrat, was in Washington from the weekend through Tuesday, but he didn't reveal details of the discussion with Obama's team. During the campaign, he was one of Obama's top allies in Texas, and he also completed surrogate work for the president-elect in several swing states, including North Carolina.

Texas' Congressional Democrats sent a letter last week to President-elect Barack Obama, his transition team and the Department of Defense, pushing for recently defeated state Rep. Juan Garcia (D-Corpus Christi) to become secretary of the Navy.

PolitickerTX.com reported Garcia as a candidate for the position three weeks ago, but little has been heard since. However, recent rumblings of discontent from Hispanic leaders over the lack of Latino representation in the Cabinet might boost Garcia's chances.

"We believe that he has the proven record of accomplishment as an Officer in the United States Navy, a corporate attorney, White House Fellow, and member of the Texas House of Representatives and respectfully challenge anyone to find a more qualified individual for this key position," the Democrats wrote in the letter.

President-elect Barack Obama's weekend selection of retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs means the job won't be going to state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston).

Obama's choice came despite a recommendation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to select Noriega for the post. Only one Latino, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for commerce secretary, has been chosen so far for Obama's Cabinet, and national Hispanic leaders have said they would "definitely be disappointed" with only one Latino in the Cabinet.

According to The Dallas Morning News, a source close to Noriega says he may still be on the radar screen for other Cabinet posts, adding that Noriega was "very excited just to be on (Obama's) radar screen."

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush have purchased a home in the affluent north Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow, where they will live after Bush leaves office in January, according to The Associated Press.

In addition, Laura Bush's press secretary Sally McDonough said the Bush family will continue to make visits to their ranch in Crawford, Texas, which is about two hours south of Dallas.

The Preston Hollow neighborhood, which boasts some of the wealthiest residents and most expensive homes in Texas, is also home to several other famous Texans. Oil executive T. Boone Pickens, former Presidential candidate Ross Perot, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks are among the area's residents.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing former Laredo Mayor Saul Ramirez and U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) for positions in President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Ramirez is backed for secretary of housing and urban development, while Hinojosa is on the list for secretary of education.

"There is no doubt that Rick Noriega and Ramirez are being discussed," U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio), the chairman of the Caucus task force on nominations, told the Express-News.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) for secretary of veterans affairs, the Houston Chronicle reports.

With only one Latino selected for President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet so far, Hispanic leaders have become frustrated in recent weeks at the lack of Hispanic representation in the Obama administration.

To that end, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio) and U.S. Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) sent a letter Tuesday to Obama's transition team, recommending Noriega and 13 other Hispanic politicians for various posts within the Cabinet.

Baca told Bloomberg News that Caucus members would "definitely be disappointed" if only one Latino was chosen for the cabinet. Bloomberg reports that Baca "warned that Obama's legislative agenda could be jeopardized if the president-elect doesn't nominate additional Hispanics."

Back in November, Texas Gov. Rick Perry dismissed President-elect Barack Obama as a man of "pretty prose." Upon meeting him Tuesday at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Perry appeared to change his tune.

Perry was one of 48 governors who met with Obama, most of which were facing state budget crises brought on by the nation's economic problems. While Texas is one of the few states not expecting a budget shortfall next year, Perry attended the bipartisan meeting to express conservative concerns over federal bailouts.

"Not only was it good policy, it was good politics," Perry told The Dallas Morning News. "He was very open. Trying to address the issue of debt and bad debt and financial crisis with more debt — I philosophically have great concerns about that," Perry said.

The indictments are over, but the war of words is still ongoing.

While the charges against Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) are off the table, lame-duck Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra and Lucio threw several jabs at each other after Monday's developments, with the Democratic D.A. blasting corruption and the state senator accusing the D.A. of being "bitter."

"Mr. Guerra is a very bitter, bitter individual right now," Lucio told The (McAllen) Monitor. "He lost a re-election bid."

The national political landscape has changed, but in general, it isn't change we can believe in, it's change that everyone should have seen coming.

For the first time since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, a credible case can be made that the United States is now a center-left country instead of a center-right country.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is one of more than 40 governors in Philadelphia on Tuesday who will meet with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden to discuss economic issues.

The intent of the bipartisan meetings, hosted by the National Governors Association and its chairman, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, is to allow governors to brief Obama on the impact of the economic crisis on state budgets. But with the Texas economy in far better shape than the nationwide situation, Perry's message to Obama is expected to take a different tone, focusing on factors he believes has the Texas economy in a better position.

In his meeting, Perry intends to sell the values of low taxes, limited spending and a reasonable regulatory climate, his spokeswoman Allison Castle told the Austin American-Statesman.