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October 2007 Archives
11:19 PM Wed, Oct 31, 2007 | Permalink
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I accidentally deleted the photo I got with Karen Hughes, but it wasn't very good anyway. All I found from debate night 2006 was this photo, where she's chatting with the reporters who used to tail her in Austin -- Wayne Slater, Christy Hoppe and Clay Robison.
Another newsmaker this week (and every week, nowadays) is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Here's a shot from her visit to City Hall Monday.
 >> Continue reading: Women of the Week - The Picture Purge
3:42 PM Wed, Oct 31, 2007 | Permalink
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The AP and other outlets are reporting longtime Bush inner circle member/former communications guru/onetime TV reporter Karen Hughes is leaving her post as undersecretary of state before the end of the year. She joins Dan Barrett and Karl Rove in coming back to her homeland.
When I get home I will post a photo of Hughes towering over me. We (the press corps) ran into her after the 2006 gubernatorial debate in Dallas, in the Hyatt hotel bar.
Meanwhile, if I recall correctly, the Bell campaign was doing the...
7:53 PM Tue, Oct 30, 2007 | Permalink
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Okay, it's the SEVENTH Democratic presidential debate, not the four hundredth. It starts in five minutes, moderated by Brian Williams and Tim Russert (who, you might recall, was called a "hack" by Jake Bernstein.) I'll do my best to keep up. So will our secret FUN FACT checker, yay!
7:59pm: Chris Matthews is giving us/yelling us a debate preview, talking about how Obama is reluctant to take on Hillary Clinton, etc etc.
8:02pm: Here we go! LIVE from Drexel University in Philadelphia... the "cradle o...
6:30 PM Tue, Oct 30, 2007 | Permalink
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A commenter asked if I found any District 97 direct mail that talked about the House Speaker and his leadership, since this will likely be an issue in next year's House races.
Courtesy: Barrett campaign One of four Dan Barrett...
5:44 PM Tue, Oct 30, 2007 | Permalink
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This weekend is the Texas Book Festival in Austin, which is happening downtown while thousands of runners pack the streets for the Race for the Cure. (Talk about double-booking. Whoa, I didn't even mean to pun there!)
I am going to use the book fair as an excuse not to run. Also, because there are plenty of politicos that will be at the fest to speak informally with readers, and that sounds like fun. (Whoa, I didn't mean to rhyme, either.)
To help you build your festival schedule, here are some s...
10:32 AM Tue, Oct 30, 2007 | Permalink
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Just wanted to check in since it's morning time... there are a few items to mention but nothing worthy of a full post right now so I'll just lump them together.
-We're covering a protest taking place at Judge Sharon Keller's home tonight. You'll recall Keller is the TX Court of Criminal Appeals judge who refused to receive a death row inmate's appeal on the day the US Supreme Court said it would consider whether lethal injection is unconstitutional.
Since that day, all executions have been put on hold except for that of t...
8:44 AM Mon, Oct 29, 2007 | Permalink
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I was inspired to do this post by Texas Monthly's Paul Burka, after he ended a recent post like this:
There was never a scenario in which Watts could have been elected United States Senator. The Noriega scenarios may not be likely, but they do exist.
So, what are those scenarios, if they do exist? The Democratic campaign manager for Chris Bell '06 (Jason Stanford) and the former communications director for Republican Governor Rick P...
9:34 PM Sun, Oct 28, 2007 | Permalink
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It's Christmas in October. Check out all this direct mail I got from my friend in District Ninety Sizzle (97, Fort Worth). Two major themes emerge from the barrage of mail pieces that are flying into mailboxes -- cracking down on illegal immigration and cutting out all the "pork" in the budget. (One piece actually has a huge hog on the front).
2:05 PM Thu, Oct 25, 2007 | Permalink
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Texas Weekly's Ross Ramsey calls the Texas Senate's private committee of the whole meetings "a joke". Here's the FWST:
Behind closed doors
Texas lawmakers employ other tactics that allow them to operate outside public scrutiny.
The entire Senate sometimes meets behind closed doors, although the 31-member chamber votes in public. Proposition 11 would not end the Senate's private meetings.
Ross Ramsey, editor of the Texas Weekly political journal, said the "Senate is a joke" when it comes to operating in the open.
"They disappear from the floor and th...
2:05 PM Wed, Oct 24, 2007 | Permalink
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The Texas Senate sometimes uses a parliamentary device known as "Committee of the Whole", where the entire body is considered one large committee. NCSL says since it's a parliamentary thing, every state can use this -- but most all other states use Committee of the Whole while they're still on the floor and in public view.
In Texas, the Senate can meet as Committee of the Whole OUT of public view, back in the proverbial smoke-filled room. For example, The C of the W was used before the entire Senate decided to come back after dinner hours in Februrary to call for TYC to be put under a conservatorship. ...
4:18 PM Tue, Oct 23, 2007 | Permalink
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Noriega attended an event in Houston this afternoon, where he made himself available for questions from the press. Here's the H-Chron's audio of the gaggle.
Below -- some of the questions and answers regarding today's shakeup in the Senate race. He has kind words for Watts, comments on the road ahead, and stops short of endorsing Carol Alvarado, the Houston city councilwoman who is running for his seat in the Texas House.
Opening remarks:<...
2:12 PM Tue, Oct 23, 2007 | Permalink
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I went to early vote this morning at a neighborhood Randalls, where the three poll workers who helped me seemed a little stunned about my age. They took my driver's license and kept making comments about the year I was born, as if no one born after, say, 1970 had shown up yet. Wait a minute... ...
10:35 AM Tue, Oct 23, 2007 | Permalink
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Noriega has now released a statement.
I received a call from Mikal Watts this morning informing me he has decided to withdraw from the Democratic Primary race for the United States Senate.
As Teddy Roosevelt once said, the credit goes to the man in the arena. And Mikal Watts will always have my utmost respect for standing in the arena and highlighting how John Cornyn has let Texas down, placing political extremists and his financial contributors ahead of the people of Texas.
Of course, this is not the first time Mikal has been in the arena — he’s been a true friend to Democrats in...
8:51 AM Tue, Oct 23, 2007 | Permalink
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This is pretty huge. Democrat Mikal Watts is backing out of his bid for U.S. Senate (he was engaged in an interesting race against State Rep. Rick Noriega for the Democratic nomination.) He's citing family reasons, see below:
For the last five months I have been exploring a race for the United States Senate because I believe that our junior senator, John Cornyn, has let Texas down and is more concerned with his cronies and friends in Washington than with what's best for Texas.
After spending the last several months putting everything into this campaign, I have seen the toll this effort has take...
8:02 AM Tue, Oct 23, 2007 | Permalink
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I may be an Austin reporter, but I can't help keeping an eye on that Fort Worth state house race -- after all, it IS the only house race happening this year.
The news this morning is the retiring rep, Anna Mowery, is publicly backing former State Rep. Bob Leonard in the race for her seat. You could say she's showing her "comittment" to him.
It's a ringing endorsement (emphasis mine):
"I think he's very well-qualif...
8:43 AM Sun, Oct 21, 2007 | Permalink
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Oh, how quickly has the time flown by. Another election is upon us, and early voting starts Monday! During early voting you don't have to vote at your own polling place - pick any early voting location in your county so long as you are already registered (and present some form of ID).
To help make your early voting experience a little easier, I have taken the Travis County early voting locations and made them into a google map. View a larger version by clicking the link at the bottom of the map.
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