"CAN THE REPUBLICANS GOVERN?"

Texas Monthly was asking that before the Killer D's had to take off.

A huge surprise is that Dewhurst, the strange tall model in cowboy books, has been the effective one.

By finding ways to save programs from the governor's ax, Dewhurst has found enough Democratic votes to assure passage of the budget. Now, however, he has to worry about a group of conservative Republican senators, at least one of whom refers to Dewhurst as "the only statewide elected Democrat."