Bloggers paused this week to mark the death of Lena Guerrero, while also greeting the arrival of some faces (some new, some familiar). They're also thinking about the 2010 elections, celebrating some birthdays and looking at Texas' affect on national politics. And the Headline of the Week award returns.
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Annex says that Gov. Rick Perry is trying to clear 2010 opponents out of the way by recommending John Montford for University of Texas system chancellor. A Perry spokesperson tells Political Junkie "This John Montford thing is being blown out of proportion."
Perry did a nice job schmoozing San Antonio legislators, strongly hinting that he'll run again in 2010, according to Texas Politics. Was Perry's announcement Friday about ethanol waivers an attempt to "scoop" a Monday op-ed by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison? asks Postcards. (KBH spokesperson Matt Mackowiak told us Saturday that's one way of looking at it, but said there's a difference between making an announcement and actually doing something about it.)
And Austin Political Report uses a Shakespearean conceit to muse on the 2010 gubernatorial contest.
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A Very Burnt Orange Birthday
Burnt Orange Report celebrated its fifth birthday on Thursday at Scholz's Beer Garden in Austin. Kaos was also there to mark its second year of existence. Mean rachel, who's new to our blogroll, crashed the party in recognition of her 24th birthday (her real one, not the blog's). And KVUE's Political Junkie took pictures.
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The National Scene
WhosPlayin is not happy about this letter to a Barack Obama delegate urging him/her to switch his/her vote to Hillary Clinton at the state convention. Meanwhile Obama "superdelegate" and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, wants the primary over ASAP, says the Dallas Morning News's Trail Blazers.
Burnt Orange uses a barrel of virtual ink to write that state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, will chair a committee on possible changes to the Texas Democratic primary/caucus system.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul could change the national GOP, says Burnt Orange. The state party will hear from Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, according to Postcards. Meanwhile, the national GOP is employing a strange YouTube strategy to attack Obama over gas prices, says PoliTex.
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Departures and Arrivals
Former state Rep. and Texas Railroad Commissioner Guerrero died last week after an eight-year bout with brain cancer. BurkaBlog looks back on Guerrero's public career, saying she, along with Henry Cisneros and Dan Morales, were "promising Hispanic politicians who were statewide figures" until they all "self-destructed." Postcards from the Lege, the Austin American-Statesman's blog, makes the same connection.
Guerrero's service was held at Our Lady of Guadalupe church, and she is buried in the Texas State Cemetery, according to Postcards.
Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, reminisces about his "good friend" in A Capitol Blog. "She was like everybody's sister," says state Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, to Vaqueros & Wonkeros, the El Paso Times's blog. And Dos Centavos has a photo of Guerrero with former Gov. Ann Richards.
Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, has a piece, too. And here's the take from PoliTex, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog.
The Capitol Crowd marks the death of Jonathan David Chatham, the son of Donna Chatham, who is executive director of the Association of Rural Communities in Texas.
Brian Ruiz, a Democrat running for Congress against incumbent John Carter, has a new campaign manager: his brother, Abel Ruiz.
We bid adieu to Professors-R-Squared a few weeks ago. But "Houston's only openly Republican political science professors" are back! (They've brought friends, too, and have retained their sense of humor.) Meanwhile, Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, alerts us to the existence of Letters from Texas by political consultant Harold Cook.
Capitol Annex has a new comments policy.
We mightn't have heard the last of Bill Dingus, the Democratic Midland city councilman trying to run against House Speaker Tom Craddick, says Chronic, who compares the Dingus deal to the earlier to-do over Wendy Davis, who gave up her Fort Worth city council seat to run against state Sen. Kim Brimer.
Muckraker's on Facebook. According to Texas Kaos, Austin will say "Howdy" to progressive bloggers for the Netroot Nation's conference July 17 to 20, while San Antonio will say "Hey" to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund on April 24, says Tex Parte Blog.
ABC13's Political Blog got some face time with potential Houston mayoral candidateBill King, who has a book out.
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Headlines
Texas GOP Still Following Perry On Transportation, by Eye on Williamson.
Juvie crime in Texas IS declining, but "why" is a mystery, by Grits for Breakfast.
Bexar County starting to plan for possible post-TYC future, by Grits.
Searching for principled voices on the Eldorado raid, by Grits.
Trans-Texas Corridor: Your land is their land, by muckraker.
CorridorWatch Responds to Governor Rick Perry's Speech, by muckraker
Our Headline of the Week award goes to Half-Empty for this textbook example of objectivity and nonpartisanship: "Why Doesn’t Texas Senator John Cornyn Support Our Veterans?"
On The Record: Jann Fletcher, by Texas Blue (Fletcher is chair of the Archer County Democratic Party).
Interview with Lone Star Project Founder Matt Angle, by Blue.
Creationists Get Failing Grade, by Texas Observer Blog.
It's another tax task force! by Texas Politics.
Texas Dems see hope in dollar signs, by Vaqueros.
Congressman Henry Cuellar receives US Chamber Award, by Walker Report.
Fishing for controversy, by Political Blog.
This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is spending the spring in the mid-Atlantic region. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.
