Did Dewhurst just kill his political career?

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, aka Dudley Dewless, may have put the final nail in his political coffin when pulling the "don't you know who I am" card when trying to spring his wife's niece out of jail.

Now, as the jail sergeant with the Allen PD notes, such calls are relatively normal. Until they involve the "don't you know who I am," and want numbers of judges or something.

Nothing illegal, just a massive ethics lapse.

Is this enough for his Three Blind Mice opposition of Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, and numbnuts state Sen. Dan Patrick, to be able to topple him? Like fellow blogger Brains and Eggs, I've thought all along that Dewless is in the wrong race for 2014, that either challenging John Cornyn of the Senate or else finding a safe Congressional seat was his right move.

(Update, Aug. 23: And don't you think that Patterson's announcement that the Veteran Land Board would treat the spouses victims of Maj. Nidal Hasan's Fort Hood shootings as if their loved ones were combat casualties won't boost his standing? I'm not saying it's not a decent thing to do, but, it also looks good politically.) 

That said, I partially disagree with Brains when he says Patrick's probably the best challenger, then Patterson. I expect Patrick to implode at some point, including pissing off some of his own wingnut supporter types. Also, Staples as well as Patterson has a state office that puts his name before a lot of rural voters that are still key in GOP primaries. Even if Patrick doesn't actually implode, he still will have name recognition problems. Also, per the Observer's roundup, Staples has some religious right cred, just like Patrick. Brains reminds me, though, that Patrick's radio show airs in Dallas as well as Houston. That said, he doesn't have a statewide office.

Beyond that, Patrick has some 'splaining to do to pro-lifers, as he until recently owned stock in a company that makes the Plan B "morning after pill." (His explanation of this is usual political boilerplate, and will only lead the far right to further scrutinize other investments of his.)

But, back to Dewless himself.

Staples is already comparing him to Ron Burgundy of "Anchorman" fame. Cute, but probably won't push the GOP needles that much. Patrick is likely to be the biggest pit bull on this one. And, per his style, Patterson will quietly pick up the pieces at the end.

From Dewless' POV, it's not that many GOPers don't know who the Lite Guv is. It's that they know him all too well. This will be seen as another example of a pre-Tea Party patrician conservative trying to throw his weight, his name, and his moneyed past around.

Part of the question is, will GOP insider types coalesce around one particular candidate between now and, say, the end of this year? And if so, whom?

Related a bit to that: Let's note that said incident actually happened three weeks before public airing. Why it got that public airing is part of the issue.