Texas Department of Transportation Commissioner and former state lawmaker Ric Williamson died suddenly of a heart attack last night. He was 55. Here's what the big three had to say:
Perry:
“Anita and I are heartbroken at this sudden loss of a confidant, trusted advisor and close personal friend of ours for more than 20 years. Ric’s passion to serve his beloved State of Texas was unmatched and his determination to help our state meets its future challenges was unparalleled. He will be missed beyond words. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Williamson family during this very difficult time.”
Dewhurst:
"Ric Williamson loved Texas and gave two decades of his life in the Legislature, and most recently as Chairman of the Texas Department of Transportation, to make Texas an even better place to live. My thoughts and prayers are with the Williamson family at this difficult time. Texas will miss him."
Craddick:
"Nadine and I were very sorry to hear about Commissioner Ric Williamson's death. He dedicated his life to public service, and I have fond memories of the time we served in the Legislature together. We wish his wife, Mary Ann, and his family peace and comfort during this difficult time."
Readers of the Washington Post politics blog, The Fix, helped blogger Chris Cilizza come up with a list of the best political reporters in each state. Here's their list for Texas:
Texas: Texas Monthly senior executive editor Paul Burka, Dallas Morning News senior political writer Wayne Slater, Houston Chronicle reporter Clay Robison, Houston Chronicle reporter R. G. Ratcliffe, Austin American Statesman reporter and columnist W. Gardner Selby.
Um, where's the venerable Jay Root on this list? He not only writes about politics, he makes videos, too! And... no love for the ladies? Let's hear it for the Peggy's and April's and Karen's and Christy's who are deep in the trenches, too!
"File" photo. Get it?!?! I kill myself. Anyway, more than one candidate filed paperwork to get on the Texas ballot today, and the candidates kindly invited the cameras along for some free press. Or you could call this a photo essay of how I spent my day:
U.S. Reps John Carter and Kay Granger file on behalf of Mitt Romney
John Sharp, Gonzalo Barrientos and Sylvia Romo file for Bill Richardson
US Rep Lloyd Doggett files for himself and brings his fam along
Let's get caught up on where we are in this open-records journey. (If you are new to the blog, click on the Open Government category to your right to read previous Purge entries).
Open-records requester John Washburn hasn't been able to get copies of the Governor Rick Perry's office emails because of the cost charged by the office. The governor's office said it would fill his request, but only if he paid a few thousand dollars for about a month's worth of emails.
This triggered a complaint to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office. Washburn received a response yesterday. In part, it reads:
To determine the appropriateness of the charges, we consider the following elements:
The test performed;
The number of computers that will require a search for responsive records;
The volume of emails responsive to the request and;
The charges used in the calculations.
Upon review of those elements, we find that the estimated charges are appropriate.
The complaint file is closed. UPDATE:Download file
Washburn has responded, though it's unclear what he can do now that the AG's office says it won't play. Parts of his response are below:
My objections to the dismissal of the complaint are:
1) You have accepted Ms. Thornton method of records production as reasonable. It is not. As I stated to Ms. Thornton in my telephone conversation with her on November 12, 2007, her client side approach is inefficient and excessively costly. During that telephone conversation I offered to provide the server-side programming* which would be more efficient, less error prone, easier to review and redact, and would not bother the 250 staff members of the Governor’s office.
2) You have accepted Ms. Thornton’s unsupported statement that it is beyond the technical capabilities of the IT staff to export the responsive records using programmatic means. Ms. Thornton’s statements of incompetence are difficult to believe and I don’t believe them. The close parsing of her words would indicate she has never asked her technical staff for assistance in exporting the requested electronic records and has instead deliberately chosen the most inefficient and expensive method to produce the requested records.
3) By deliberately choosing costly and inefficient methods, The Office of the Governor is deliberately overcharging for the requested records. This is, as you know, tantamount to blocking the release of the requested records.
The Governor’s office is pursuing a series of decisions and methods which evinces but one object; the execution of tactic three of the attached essay, “How to Hide Public Records”. Tactic three is excerpted below:
Make them pay for what they really want. Like a parking ticket or a speeding ticket, levy a fine. Claim that finding the record will incur a tremendous amount of time. You can charge for time to find long-buried records. If your budget is tight, urge your superiors to set a higher per-page copying cost to help offset those copier expenses. You're not responsible for reducing costs. You are able by law to charge to help offset the cost of producing some kinds of records.
*You see, in an effort to help streamline the process for future requests of governor's office email, Washburn himself -- a software designer -- actually took the time to create a program by which the office could easily extract the emails being requested. He believes his program would reduce the time and number of employees required to fill his request, thereby reducing the charge for the emails. But the office never responded to his offer, even though it appears he designed what could be a very helpful program for other state agencies to use to fulfill the TPIA.
Thursday morning, Congresswoman Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, will file papers on behalf of Mitt Romney to get him on the Texas primary ballot. Which is a good-enough hook for me to bring up how the Concord Monitor decided to turn things around and give Romney a scathing non-endorsement this week:
If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You'd add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You'd pour in some old GOP bromides - spending cuts and lower taxes - plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.
Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped.
Merry Christmas! My Christmas is pretty much over, the surefire sign being that Dad is now vacuuming the living room obsessively as he does every year. Instead of holiday cheer, I bring you some fascinating news, packaged in a nice news lead, or "lede", as the print-folk like to misspell it.
This year’s death-penalty bombshells — a federal moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade — have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development. For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas.
Prolific Houston-based blogger Charles Kuffner has asked all kinds of people he considers interesting to guest-post for a series called "Looking Forward to 2008". While most of the posts discuss city and state government and the politics of it all, others hit things like a plan to cancel some memberships on all those social networking sites, which is a brilliant idea. (Sayonara, Myspace! And I lost Friendster a long time ago.)
Oh, and bond broker Hale Stewart responded to Kuff's request by saying he'd rather turn this thing on its head and explain why the economy is going to hell. His guest-post is complete with Ross Perot-like graphs. (Anyone else feeling nostalgia for the 1992 presidential election like me? They sure don't make 'em like Jerry Brown anymore.)
Anyway, a shout out to the series because I'm enjoying reading about what makes people get up in the mornings. Or not get up, as Hale's case may be.
As I just wrote, the Texas GOP is calling for Texas Monthly's executive editor, Evan Smith, to resign. The call came after a report in the Midland Reporter-Telegram, in which Smith is said to have "encouraged" Craddick challenger Bill Dingus to run. That would be bad. But the paper's editor said they got it all wrong.
"We interviewed Bill [Dingus] yesterday. Evan Smith had talked to Bill, but never encouraged him or said "you oughta run" or anything like that," said Gary Ott, the MRT's editor.
"It was our reporter interpreting Dingus incorrectly. I think it was an honest mistake. We're gonna run a correction in tomorrow's paper and have it on our website today."
So here I was, trying to tune out on this Friday-before-Christmas, when I learn of a minor eruption in the world of Texas politics.
Earlier this week, Texas Monthly executive editor Evan Smith reported on his blog that a Midland City Councilman, Bill Dingus, would file to run in House District 82 against incumbent/House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland. Yikes. This made big news, as it would mean Craddick would have to run two races at once -- the race to keep his house seat, and the race to stay speaker.
“Evan Smith needs to make a choice he can’t be both a political consultant and a magazine editor. Those who report the news are not supposed to make it. If Mr. Smith’s work hasn’t already made his antagonism toward Speaker Craddick clear enough, this revelation leaves no question. The conflict of interest is obvious. He needs to step down.”
Since I did no such thing, I was a bit surprised. I have talked to Dingus, yes, to confirm that he is in fact running, as every reporter worth a damn in Texas has done in the last day or so. But a reporter calling a potential candidate is journalism, not encouragement.
A Statesman Screwup? Or a Case of Blame the Messenger?
Count State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, among the folks who have embraced the interactive features on news websites. It appears Dukes - or someone who says she's Dukes - posted a response to an Austin American-Statesmaneditorial which mentioned she was a supporter of House Speaker Tom Craddick.
A number of Republicans want Craddick out, including some committee leaders he appointed. And some Democrats have put their bets on Craddick, such as Austin’s Dawnna Dukes. Dukes has drawn a Democratic primary opponent who criticizes her support of Craddick.
A "Dawnna Dukes" responded online, accusing the Statesman of shoddy journalism by writing the above about her without talking to her first:
By Dawnna Dukes
December 20, 2007 12:24 AM
I am utterly appalled that the Statesman would attribute a comment to me in an editorial or article for which I was not interviewed. “And some Democrats have put their bets on Craddick, such as Austin’s Dawnna Dukes.” No one at your paper talked to me concerning this issue or this editorial. I would truly appreciate it if the paper would name the person(s) quoted in this article and not attribute their comment to me whom you have not interviewed.
Now her opponent, Austin attorney Brian Thompson, has weighed in, by saying that the Statesman didn't need to check with her, because it was only "stating the obvious" -- Dukes has indeed voted Tom Craddick for speaker in the '03, '05 and '07 sessions:
I don't understand why the incumbent is now blaming the Austin American-Statesman for merely stating a fact. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Dawnna Dukes has supported the embattled Republican Speaker since 2003.
Thompson called on Dukes to pledge she will "never again" support Craddick in the future. Dukes so far has not said which way she would vote in '09, if re-elected.
In one of my favorite scenes from Austinite Mike Judge's cult hit, Office Space, the two consultants named Bob come in and try and identify the "fat" to cut out of the office. In one confrontation with the Bob's, a middleman type guy freaks out:
Bob Slydell: What would you say ya do here? Tom Smykowski: Well look, I already told you! I deal with the [expletive] customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?
My KVUE predecessor, Lee McGuire, (who is now a roving reporter at our Belo sister station, KHOU-TV in Houston) asked Bob's question about the Texas Ethics Commission. McGuire's story features a longtime Houston activist who doesn't think too highly of the state agency.
“I think the Ethics Commission is incompetent, completely incompetent,” activist John Cobarruvias said. “There is no other word to describe what they’re doing right now.”
Everyone, but everyone, has been offering their opinions on what happened in HD 97 last night, in which Democrat Dan Barrett pulled out a win in a district drawn to be a Republican stronghold. Some say it's a referendum on Craddick, which seems to be the narrative that will drive most Texas House races in the March primary, and perhaps, beyond. Here's a super short clip of State Representative Mark Strama, D-Austin, weighing in on the win this morning.
Also, here are some more short takes by various folks, speaking to various outlets:
"I'm in a district of independent-minded voters who were smart enough and cared enough to vote for change." -Winner Dan Barrett, as reported by the FWST
"I still believe this is a conservative district. We had a very low voter turnout today. I think this is fully a function of voter turnout" --Losing candidate Mark Shelton, to the AP.
"Tonight's outcome in the HD97 special election proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick is a sinking ship for the Republican Party in Texas." --State Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, in a statement
"The unexpected certainly took place. It wasn't about Craddick. It was a special election in the middle of Christmas season." -Austin consultant and HillCo partner Bill Miller, to the AP
Ron Kirk shows off the official Obama signed papers to qualify for the Texas primary ballot.
Former Dallas Mayor and 2002 US Senate candidate Ron Kirk, State Representative Mark Strama, D-Austin, State Representative Norma Chavez, D-El Paso and Austin City Councilmember Mike Martinez showed up at Texas Democratic Party headquarters this morning to file papers for presidential candidate Barack Obama to be on the Texas primary ballot in March. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have already filed.
All of his supporters emphasized how Obama could better unite the country and get things "back on track" domestically and internationally than other candidates in the race.
"There's a bunch of reasons why I support Barack Obama, and it's not just because I think my name would look great on the ticket," said Strama, in a not-so-veiled-dig at Governor Rick Perry, who has been publicly campaigning for Republican Rudy Giuliani. (Since endorsing Giuliani, Perry has been dogged by questions about whether he'd be interested in VP, Perry says no every time.)
Then, a fellow reporter asked Kirk which cabinet position he'd like to hold if Obama is elected president.
"I just want to be First Buddy," Kirk said. That sounds like a pretty swank job. I am picturing the opening scenes of Adam Sandler's 1995 hit, Billy Madison.
All right, the Texas Dems got their chance to gloat, after Dan Barrett pulled out a stunning victory over Republican Mark Shelton in HD 97. Now the Texas GOP takes their turn to rhetorically burst the bubble of celebrating Democrats. Here's Texas GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser:
This is a temporary victory for the most liberal wing of the Texas Democratic Party as the victor will never get to cast a single vote. It will also serve as a rallying cry for the entire Texas Republican community to work together in November to fight these liberal incursions with one positive, conservative voice and vision.
I didn't believe Democrat Dan Barrett's early lead over Republican Mark Shelton in House District 97 would hold. I mean, that Southwest Fort Worth district is still considered Republican, and with the field narrowed down to two, I thought (perhaps naively) that "Craddick vs anti-Craddick" was no longer a factor in the race.
Now, 100% of precincts are back, and the anti-Craddick Democrat ACTUALLY WON. Barrett is likely helped by good turnout for a city council runoff, which was also on the ballot.
You can bet the Texas Democratic Party is gloating. I already recieved this from State Party Chair Boyd Richie:
Dan Barrett won in a district drawn by Republicans to elect a Republican, and his victory is a slap in the face to Speaker Tom Craddick and the failed Republican leadership in this state. Voters have sent a message that they are tired of "business as usual" in Austin and want leaders who will replace the pay-to-play politics of the Republican Party with a state government that works for all Texans.
Of course, Dan Barrett only ran to run again next year (Mowery stepped down before completing her term). But being an incumbent always helps.
Late posting this Tuesday because we've been busy taking some of the questions about Austin State Rep. Dawnna Dukes's improper campaign finance reporting directly to Dukes, who was kind enough to stop by KVUE's capitol office to talk to us.
Recent reports by Texas Weekly and others have pointed out Dukes spent more than $89,000 on 19 different credit cards without attributing the vendors. (The ethics commission requires filers to itemize the purchases on their campaign credit cards.)
Dukes says she, like many other lawmakers, didn't know that the credit card spending needed to be itemized until a clarification letter was sent by the ethics commission last year. She's filling an amended report.
See Dukes on the air tonight at six. Meanwhile, here is the excel spreadsheet of Dukes expenditures since 2000. I've included here two other sheets (use the tabs at the bottom of the screen to jump sheet to sheet), where the expenditures are organized by description and payee.
More voices are chiming in after Attorney General Greg Abbott released his official opinion on House Speaker Tom Craddick's powers.
The following statement was issued by Rep. Geanie Morrison (current chair), Rep. Dan Flynn, Rep. Phil King (current chair), Rep. Jim Murphy (loyal freshman), Rep. Diane Patrick (loyal freshman), Rep. David Swinford (current chair) and Rep. John Zerwas (loyal freshman):
“The attorney general’s opinion is a strong confirmation that the speaker respected the constitution and the rules, and that a speaker’s contest should end, not begin, on the first day of session. During the 140 days legislators are in Austin, the focus must be on addressing the business of the people and not political agendas. While we support a member’s right to inquire about the rules and the democratic process spelled out in the constitution, with this opinion now issued we hope our most vigorous debates will be focused on the matters that most directly impact Texans, such as border security, property rights, education reform and fiscal discipline.”
If Craddick is re-elected to a fourth term as speaker, Patrick, Murphy and Zerwas have certainly proven their loyalty and may very well join the ranks of chairmen. After all, there will be lots of vacancies to fill.
Rolling Stone calls him "the most honest man in news", National Review calls him "shameless", viewers, they seem to like him. MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann is among the fastest growing news programs on cable television.
Olbermann's show has been around for years, but started gaining ground as Americans became disaffected with the Bush administration and Olbermann gave that disaffection a voice via his "special comments", in which he pulls no punches in taking on the President, Vice President, and occassionally, his nemesis Bill O'Reilly.
The always-opinionated Olbermann sat down with Texan Bill Moyers to talk about the intersection of politics and journalism. If you didn't see it, it's worth watching.
If you've been too busy making the holiday party/holiday shopping rounds to get your normal dose of politics this weekend, here's a quick review... some "one-stop-shopping", if you will:
Abbott Sides with Craddick
After pushing back its release by several hours, the Attorney General eventually came out with his opinion on questions posed by Craddick's challengers after acrimonious final days of the session.
Craddick had argued he couldn't be removed by the 150 member body that voted him in; instead, that he was a statewide officer akin to Lt. Gov Dewhurst, who could only be removed by impeachment, which requires 2/3rds of the House AND Senate.
Abbott ultimately sided with Craddick on the question, in a move the DMN's Karen Brooks calls "a blow against insurgent lawmakers who tried to oust the speaker at the end of the legislative session".
Ronnie Earle Era Ending
The Travis County District Attorney announced Friday he would be stepping down at the end of his term, setting up a scramble in Austin for his job and speculation as to whether Earle will run for governor in 2010. AP's Kelley Shannon says it marks "an end to a three-decade reign in which he battled some of the biggest names in Texas politics".
Cornyn Officially In
Sitting US Senator John Cornyn filed his papers for re-election Saturday morning at the state GOP headquarters. The Houston Chronicle's RG Ratcliffe woke up early Saturday to attend the filing event, and files this report.
Ron Paul Rakes It In
On the 234th anniverary of the Boston Tea Party on Sunday, Ron Paul's Austin supporters marched from the Texas capitol to Lady Bird Lake, where they dumped tea into the water (temporarily) as part of a national one-day fundraiser, which wound up taking in $5 million for the Texas Congressman.
Nationally...
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won competing newspaper endorsements, Obama snagging The Boston Globe's, and Clinton picking up that of the Des Moines Register. (What do endorsements matter, you may ask. But in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, candidates have credited the endorsements for giving them a three to five point bump.)
Both papers agreed on McCain as their candidate of choice in the Republican race. McCain also won the backing of Democrat-turned independent Joe Lieberman, which will be official tomorrow. The Politico says the endorsement "is an effort to draw attention to the McCain campaign, which needs a splash."
What's Ahead...
Tuesday is election day in Tarrant County, where Democrat Dan Barrett and Republican Mark Shelton are facing off in the runoff for the Texas House seat of retired State Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth. Moritz/Batheja of the Star-Telegram report "early voting has been relatively slow since it opened Monday."
The race has been full of surprises (Shelton wasn't expected to make the runoff), shenanigans (anonymous election day robocalling that criticized the record of leading Republican candidates), and money -- Craddick and his financial supporters coming to the aid of physician Mark Shelton, who has pledged his support to the embattled speaker.
Unrelated... Perhaps Dallas Cowboys fans should ban together and put pressure on Tony Romo to ditch that Jessica Simpson, who I am blaming for the disaster at Texas Stadium on Sunday.
You may recall I've had a recent problem with being mistaken for Austin City Councilmember Jennifer Kim. It's happened three times this fall, and tonight, it happened again.
Kim on the left
Former TV judge Larry Joe Doherty, now running for the congressional seat of US Rep Michael McCaul, said this to me in our third meeting tonight:
LJD: How's your campaign going?
Me: I'm not Jennifer Kim.
The newly-named Cardinal Daniel DiNardo paid Austin a visit for a private lunch hosted by the Governor. About 400 people attended the lunch, including lots and lots of elected officials and leaders of the faith community.
Houston Chronicle
Archbishop Daniel DiNardo arrives in St. Peter's Basilica for the Nov. 24 consistory.
When asked about his positions on issues of the day, DiNardo says his are simply those of the Catholic church. It's safe to say the positions don't fit neatly into a general political classification.
On immigration:
The Catholic bishops have been involved in the immigraion issue for thirty years. So we're a constant. Ours has always been comprehensive immigration reform, emphasis on family reunification, necessity of looking at the borders but punitive measures are probably in the long run not going to effective and maybe not even right. So we look in another direction.
On healthcare:
It's good to see particularly what health initiatives we can do are for the children. That's of concern to us. Whether that's the CHIP program, other kinds of things.
On education:
We look at legislation for help relative to vouchers or other kinds of means that would be effective for Catholic and private schools, that's something on our agenda.
Okay we're clearly not breaking any news here, but just an FYI...
House Speaker Tom Craddick has filed the necessary paperwork to run for his 943rd term as state representative from his Midland district. (Okay, it's actually his 21st term. But I was close.)
Once he wins another term as rep, he's expected to run for speaker again, too.
After filing papers for GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, Texas Governor Rick Perry accidentally threw his support behind the fast-rising Republican Mike Huckabee, instead.
"The issue becomes very, very clear to me, from a standpoint of who I want to support, and it is Mike Huckabee," Perry said. See the slip below:
Governor Rick Perry stopped by Texas GOP headquarters this afternoon to formally file papers to get Rudy Giuliani on the Texas primary ballot. Afterwards, he quickly dismissed questions from several capitol reporters about Texas Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Did you consider Ron Paul?
No, I did not. Why?
I just didn't. I didn't ever consider Ron Paul. A few minutes later... Why not Ron Paul?
You get to make choices in life, and I made a choice that Ron Paul is not mine for president. Pretty simple, for me. I didn't have to study that one too deep. But the question is why, why you made it?
Well, I just made it.
Now that I think about it, at the beginning of his comments, Perry said this was the first time in a long time there wasn't a Texan running for president. Yikes. I mean, I know Ron Paul isn't his choice, but to exclude Paul from being a Texan seems kind of harsh.
We know that celebrity endorsements of political candidates have little effect on election outcomes, but I like to see who-likes-whom anyway. The Nashua Telegraph compiled a list of celebrity backers of various presidential candidates so I don't have to. I shortened it a little more to exclude soap stars:
U.S. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-N.Y.)
• Bob Vila, former host of PBS’ “This Old House.”
• Goo Goo Dolls, rock band.
• Director Steven Spielberg.
• Singer Barbra Streisand.
• Actress Mary Steenburgen.
FORMER U.S. SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-N.C.)
• Singer/songwriter Bonnie Raitt.
• Singer/songwriter Jackson Browne.
U.S. REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-Ohio)
• Actor James Cromwell.
• Singer/songwriter Willie Nelson.
• Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco.
• Actor Sean Penn.
• Screenwriter/director Paul Haggis.
• Actor Hector Elizondo.
U.S. SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-Ill.)
• Daytime talk hostess Oprah Winfrey.
• Gospel stars including Grammy Award winners Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker.
NEW MEXICO GOV. BILL RICHARDSON
• Industrialist Lee Iacocca.
• Actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg.
• Actor Tony Plana, a star of ABC’s “Ugly Betty.”
• Legendary Indy car drivers Bobby Unser Sr. and Al Unser Sr.
FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI
• Actor Ron Silver.
• Actor Robert Duvall.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE
• Actor Chuck Norris, who appeared with Huckabee in his first TV ad in Iowa.
• Rocker/hunting enthusiast Ted Nugent.
• Wrestler Ric Flair, aka The Nature Boy.
U.S. REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-Calif.)
• Gen. Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier and the legendary test pilot who was one of the key figures in Tom Wolfe’s best seller “The Right Stuff.”
FORMER U.S. SEN. FRED THOMPSON (R-Tenn.)
• Singer John Rich of Big & Rich.
NOTE: Stephen Baldwin* endorsed U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., before he dropped out of the race.
Also, the paper left off Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's endorsement of U.S. Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, and country singer Randy Owen's support of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
*Question: How much is the endorsement of anyone who starred in VH1's Celebrity Fit Camp really worth?
Since I've been in China, keeping up with what's going on in the world of Texas politics has been exceedingly difficult, mainly because of time constraints (too many things to see/do, not enough time to read up on candidate filings). Also, I cannot read any blogger.com supported websites because I think the Chinese government blocked them a few years ago (pesky dissidents). So this is all I've gathered from my combined seventeen minutes on the internet this week:
- Noriega's in for real now, while a new senate candidate jumped into the fray.
- Karl Rove will be back in Austin Thursday night to speak to a GOP group. He won't have a media availability but the remarks will be open press.
- Senator John Cornyn, R-TX, and Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, introduced their retooled open government bill in the US Senate. Not sure whether it says anything about email retention policies.
- More recent polling shows Obama's built on his lead in Iowa. That state is so impossible to poll, we'll see what really happens come January 3rd.
HANGZHOU, CHINA - Yesterday we were traveling from the Chinese city of Hangzhou to the historic town of Wuzhen, and during the ninety minute ride we had to stop at three toll booths. I asked the tour guide what was up with that, and he said there's some statistic about how 70% of the tolled roads in the world are in China. He said it's essentially a tax for people who are affluent enough to own cars and drive.
We may have a Trans Texas Corridor in the works, but China has the Super-Mega-Jumbo-Trans-China-Corridor. They have us beat in the toll road department, that's for sure.
Stumped about what kind of extra flair to add to your Christmas tree this year? South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's two young sons have a few inspired ideas for you. From SC Hotline:
The Sanford boys chose a ’shot gun shell and sea shell’ theme for their Lowcountry tree this year. The tree is from Toogoodoo Christmas Tree Farm in Yonges Island, and the boys decorated it with sea shells and shot gun shells that they found themselves and turned into ornaments.
This could be the start of a serious Christmas tree decorating trend. I would not have thought of the shot gun shell-seashell combo on my own.
