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April 2009
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Political Blogroll
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June 2008 ArchivesState Rep Mark Strama, D-Austin, is back with his biennial Campaign Academy, and this year it's bigger than ever --forty participants. See earlier post. We stopped by to see what was going on, and to make sure the youngsters weren't secretly making Kathie Lee Gifford brand clothing. (OK, that joke might pre-date the Academy kids.) Seriously though, the participants not only seemed to be having a lot of fun, they were impressive in the way they came up with ideas and bounced them off of each other and pro... The Texas GOP got more than 1,300 entries in the contest for their official 2008 bumper sticker slogan. They have narrowed it down to five finalists: Obama for Change? That's all you'll have left in your pockets! Obama won't change me -- I'm voting GOP High gas prices? Thank a Democrat this November Barack Obama? Liberal like McGovern, Prepared like Carter Barack Obama -- The Audacity of HYPE OK to vote on your favorite, click here. The deadline to vote is 12pm next THURSDAY, July ... Say it ain't so! Another Big Bad John video? I'm not sure if there are some sort of copyright issues here, but the Rick Noriega campaign has used images and the song from US Senator John Cornyn's "Big Bad John" video and mashed it all up with their own messages. Check it out: Tell us: Which version of Big Bad John is your favorite? ...Happy 29th Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Watson! I always enjoy Fridays because the Slate political gabfest updates every Friday, and I get a "Watson Wire" (the State Senator's weekly newsletter) in my inbox. They are a mix of personal life and policy, and this week, we get a story from way-back-when: While we started dating when I was 14-years-old, she turned me down the first time I asked her out.
West has represented District 81 since 1993. It includes Ector, Andrews, and Winkler Counties. House Speaker Tom Craddick issued a statement this morning: "Nadine and I were so sorry to hear of the passing of our fr... The national lampooning of US Senator John Cornyn's GOP state convention video continues. Cornyn's camp says it's happy to get all the free press, and it seems the likes of Jon Stewart are happy to give it to him. Stewart's comment ... We're crunched up in the back corner of a Capitol Extension committee room. I can't actually move from my position so the photos are...limited. Harry Cabluck from the AP (see below) got a picture of me stuck in the corner so you have an idea of our vantage point.
>> Continue reading: Photoblog: Sunset Commission Meeting Capitol Staffers: Nothing to do today? The party's at the Sunset Commission Meeting on DPS. Public Safety Commissioners are having a pre-sunset meeting in E1.022... then headed over to the actual sunset hearing down the hall. Had the Governor's Mansion not been attacked by an arsonist, this hearing wouldn't be taking on such new importance. But after revelations of security lapses by DPS, the agency is likely to take tough questions from the commission. *Also an excellent film by Austin-based Richard Linklater. ...A lot of press is focused today on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's opting out on public campaign financing. He becomes the first presidential candidate to forgo public money. And it's a reversal of his earlier position. His campaign is explaining it by saying the public system has been so gamed by special interests that it wasn't something he wanted to be part of anymore. The practical reality for the Obama campaign is that it won't have limits on its spending anymore. Time's political guru Mark Halperin often does "his take" on political events in bullet form, and >> Continue reading: "$10 Million in Texas"
Just a quick update on the controversial anti-Obama button that is shown here, and was sold at the Texas Republican Party convention last week. >> Continue reading: About That Racist Campaign Button...
Amid the presidential candidates' back and forth over offshore oil drilling, Senator John McCain is in Houston today to outline his energy plan. It's expected to hit on conservation and alternative energy sources. "This great city is known as the oil capital of America. But people in Houston and all of Texas understand as well as anyone that the high price of oil and gas today is causing great harm all across our economy," he says in a speech to be delivered at a 4 p.m. event open to the public at the downtown Houston's Hilton Americas... It's the year of guilt-by-association in presidential politics. All the candidates have been victims of it... this time it's John McCain and his Texas fundraiser, Clayton Williams. Texas Democratic women are not pleased that McCain hasn't denounced Williams for comparing rape to bad weather -- ""If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it". McCain canceled the actual fundraiser that was to take place at Williams' house after his campaign learned of the comment. (See earlier post.) But the ca... Last Monday, when State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado was asked by Fox 7's Crystal Cotti whether the fire might have been politicaly motivated, he said no. This morning, when releasing a description of the man throwing a fireball at the front of the mansion, he said the arsonist "may be known to get angry and express strong opinions about the government, Governor Perry himself, the death penalty, the renovation of the mansion or other political issues." ...Luke Russert, Tim's only son, appeared on the Today Show this morning to talk about his father. Luke just graduated from Boston College a few weeks ago. ...No more Monday fundraiser in Texas for Senator John McCain. The event, which was to be hosted be 1990 gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams, got abruptly eighty-sixed after ABC News contacted the McCain campaign about a controversial Williams comment from way-back-when. "These were obviously incredibly offensive remarks that the campaign was unaware of at the time it was scheduled," said spokesman Brian Rogers. According to an AP story from March 1990, Williams compared rape to the bad weather. "If it's inevitable, ... More results to come, but this runoff race is probably over. Early voting totals from the Austin City Council Place 4 runoff are in, and Laura Morrison got 60% of the vote to Cid Galindo's 40%. ...The announcement, from Russert's close friend and colleague Tom Brokaw: ...Secretary of State Phil Wilson, a former Perry aide who was appointed just last year, is stepping down to "pursue other opportunities". Wilson was appointed in July of 2007, so this announcement comes less than a full year into his term. But his last day won't be until July 6th. "I have been honored to serve in this role for the people of Texas and am proud of the accomplishments we achieved during our time in office; overseeing the largest primary in Texas history, being part of bringing thousands of new jobs to Texas, and investing in our states future employers and technologies," Wilson said in ... It's Tuesday night, folks. And there are no primary returns to watch on TV! I don't know what to do with myself. Decided to use the internets to look back at the wacky and wild political season that was. I almost shed a few tears watching at these well-edited (and mostly chronological) mashups. Gotta give credit to editors, who boiled sixteen months down to mere minutes. The first one, from MSNBC, includes both the GOP and Dem nomination fights. The second, by the team at SlateV, is the Democratic Primary Battle in Eight Minutes. (They added a minute when things wrapped up last week.) |
