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They say that late in a Texas Legislative session, odd things happen--pigs can fly, elephants can disappear, etc. Three hours ago, a similarly unlikely event occurred: at a hastily-convened committee meeting at Senator Mike Jackson's desk, Board of Ed Chairman Don McElroy's stalled nomination suddenly came back to life, sent to the Senate floor by a 4-2 party line vote. What is going on here?...

The possibilities are endless: Apparently, Chairman Don's admirers have been calling and e-mailing their senators like mad. Word is, he's also been quietly making the rounds of the Senate offices to lobby as well. He may believe he's rounded up enough votes to squeak through after all. (This would require some Senate Democrats voting for him, which seems unlikely...but you never know...anything can happen in these last few days before adjournment on June 1st. Especially when you consider that McElroy's hometown senator is chair of the House Finance Committee--there could be some horse-trading going on, some observers believe.)

It could be that the nomination will fail on the floor, but can then be a litmus-test issue that will frame the upcoming primary fight in the governor's race, between current U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick "most likely to secede" Perry, and their constituencies. (Hint: Perry is counting on a large vote from social conservatives, who are more likely to appreciate Chairman Don's stands.)

Finally, it could be a way to "smoke out" Republican senators. There are several who are on record as being unhappy with McElroy, but they clearly would rather not be put into an awkward position of voting against him, when that could come back to haunt them during their next primary battle. So they might vote for him just to maintain party unity.

Or maybe a whole other game's afoot... Either way, see the video of this unexpected event.