This week, bloggers from both sides of the aisle are talking about the U.S. Senate race. They're also discussing Houston-area happenings, politicking outside Space City and campaigning on the blogs themselves. And there are other entries at the end.
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Bipartisan Interests
Conservative bloggers mounted an all-out attack against Democrat Rick Noriega after passage of FISA legislation that he opposed. Hick Politics says Noriega is falling in line with the liberal wing [1] of his party. He's selling out the taxpayers to the trial lawyers [2], according to Lonnie Walker's Blog. More here [3] from Lonnie. Here are disparaging posts from Joshua's Political Blog [4] and Pondering Penguin [5]. And yeah, right, whatever has video [6] of Noriega being "a tad confused" about FISA.
Texican Tattler posts [7] an op-ed on energy independence that's an expanded version of a letter he sent to Cornyn's campaign. And Lonnie links to a speech by incumbent John Cornyn at the state GOP convention that was just "great [8]."
From the left, Burnt Orange Report accuses Cornyn of flip-flopping [9] on healthcare. Capitol Annex takes him to task for accepting $5,000 in PAC money [10] from a construction firm contracted to build the Trans Texas Corridor. And McBlogger challenges Cornyn to meet him at an Irish bar [11] in Austin for an exchange of words.
Noriega's raised more than $1 million online [12], making him ActBlue's top non-presidential candidate of all-time, says Burnt Orange, while Half-Empty links to a fundraising letter [13] on Noriega' behalf from U.S. Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, tracks Noriega's efforts to woo national Democrats [14] and wonders about the political timing of a press release [15] from Cornyn's congressional office. (A Cornyn staffer takes time out to refute the post in the comments section.)
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Space Races
Texas Politics says national Democrats will spend $1.1 million on advertising [16] for incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, as well as $707,000 for U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in San Antonio (via [17]Politico).
BlogHOUSTON writes about Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson's fight [18] against House leaders who want to regulate lawmakers' electronic communications. More here [19] and here [20] from Off the Kuff.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog PoliTex says Chris Bell has named a campaign treasurer as he eyes the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston. "At this point, it's hard to imagine Bell not running [21]," says Kuff, and Burnt Orange notes that the 2006 gubernatorial candidate's name ID is nearly 80 percent [22] in the district.
BurkaBlog says Republican Greg Meyers is attacking [23] the landlording record of incumbent Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston. He has a back-and-forth [24] between the two campaigns. Erstwhile, a University of Houston law prof is joining the Barack Obama campaign [25], reports Tex Parte Blog.
And Houstoned is being renamed [26] Hair Balls and will no longer appear in the Houston Press's print edition.
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Elsewhere on the trail
Libertarian Elmo Hockman is thinking about running [27] in the special election to fill in for the late state Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, says the Austin Chronicle's blog Chronic. The winner of the November special election will take over for a few months until the general election [28] winner takes over.
John McCain is distancing himself from a statement made by former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm about America being a "nation of whiners." Rhetoric and Rhythm says this isn't the first time [29] that Gramm's found himself underneath McCain's bus. TexasSparkle agrees with Gramm: "Good grief. [30] We complain about everything... "
You can count [31]yeah, right, whatever in the Gramm camp. BeldarBlog defends [32] Gramm. And Lone StarTimes says Gramm would have found a supporter [33] in President John F. Kennedy.
From the left, Texas Kaos has a really long post on why Gramm is wrong [34].
Chronic's got a brief summary of the circumstances surrounding the lawsuit [35] filed by Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, to knock Democratic opponent Wendy Davis off the fall ballot. The Davis campaign [36] has been talking with PoliTex about it.
The Texas Ethics Commission is disciplining Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, for spending campaign money on dry cleaning [37], says Annex.
In case you missed it, the Texas GOP's official anti-Obama slogan is "Obama for Change? That’s all you’ll have left in your pockets." [38]Texas Observer Blog thinks that line is uninspired.
And El Paso GOP state House candidate Dee Margo is recovering after knee surgery [39], says the El Paso Times'sVaqueros & Wonkeros.
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On the Net
Texas political sites loaned their bandwidth to House Democratic Campaign Committee leaders this week. Chair Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, blogs [40] on Burnt Orange about the party's prospects in November. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, says [41] on Kuff that the Democrats are back, baby. And Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, writes [42] on Texas Kaos that the "Netroots" are mobilizing Texas Democrats. Here's a roundup [43] from Eye on Williamson.
Democratic strategist and Austin Political Report blogger Kelly Fero does an interview [44] for the national Netroots Rising blog, says Annex, who posts the top five rumors [45] he's heard about 2002's Democratic "Dream Ticket."
Barbara Ann Radnofsky appeals [46] on behalf of her Believe Texas PAC on Dos-Centavos. Her PAC's now on ActBlue [47], says Kuff.
Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, now has a blog [48], says [49] Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, in A Capitol Blog. And In the Pink Texas writes about taking part in an illustrious panel [50] on presidential politics.
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The Others
KVUE's Political Junkie has a photo [51] of the Star-Telegram Austin bureau's four current and former members at a goodbye party. Tex Parte profiles [52] Democratic National Convention Committee chief counsel Susana Carbajal, who was an Austin attorney before joining the DNCC. And Grits For Breakfast says TxDOT is resisting federal efforts to place license plate readers along state highways [53].
Texas Youth Commission conservator Richard Nedelkoff wants out by the end of July [54] and a permanent executive director to be hired, says Grits for Breakfast. Meanwhile, In the Pink's Eileen Smith shows everyone what she looks like on camera [55]. And Mike Falick's Blog gives you a chance to see if you can pass the latest U.S. citizenship test [56].
This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. 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 [57] 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 [58].