So what polls do you want to believe in the race for Governor? In the latest Zogby/WSJ tracking poll: First came Perry: 38.3% then Bell: 20.8% followed by Kinky: 20.7% and then Strayhorn: 11%. Or do you believe Rasmussan which had Rick Perry at 40%, Carole Keeton Strayhorn 20% and Kinky Friedman 19% followed by Chris Bell at 13%. Something is a little out of whack? And looks at the Governor's approval ratings. Rasmussan has Perry narrowly leading that of "President Bush 56% to 53%. Bush scores slightly higher among GOP voters with an 80% approval compared to Perry's 76%. Among Democrats, though, Perry's crossover appeal is stronger: he beats Bush with an approval of 32% versus the president's 18%". The Bell folks wanted to crow about how far down Strayhorn has dropped. They say "11, Grandma got run over by something. It's a two-person race between the last two people supporting Carole Strayhorn. You can attack the methodology all you want (MOE 3.7%), but it's consistent from month to month, so relative changes among the candidates are important. And when you've lost almost half of your support since you filed as an independent, you are having One Tough Campaign. So the two polls do have something in common. Perry at around 40% and Kinky at around 20%. So why the switch between Strayhorn and Bell? That is a good question. So is it a real race between Rick Perry and Carole Strayhorn or Rick Perry and Chris Bell? Don't forget Strayhorn has $8 million in the bank.

And in the U.S. Senate race we have another interesting poll. The Wall Street Journal/Zogby Battleground States poll shows Democratic Barbara Ann Radnofsky gaining three points, hitting nearly 37%, and Kay Bailey Hutchison down to 52%. The Radnofsky folks say "That is a drop for the Senator of nearly a full 10-point fall from Zogby's March, 2006 numbers. The June Rasmussen poll showed further loss of popularity, as the state's senior senator is down a full 17 points from a year ago over a year ago". Now if Barbara is at 37% in this poll and Bell is only at 20% in the same Zogby poll shouldn't Bell be worried? Where are all the Democrats who like Barbara but are not too sure about Chris?