Like water balloons filled with shaving cream, bloggers are bursting with opinions on how to win the state's big-time election contests. They're also sorting through other people's finances, localizing national politics and trying real hard to be more open. The finale features appearances by Texas TV anchors and more news.
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Democracy Now
Saying that Houston Mayor Bill White couldn't beat either Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst or Attorney General Greg Abbott in a special election, BurkaBlog makes the case for White to drop out of the U.S. Senate race. "If White wants to win, he should run for governor, [1]" he says.
Rick vs. Kay goes out on a limb [2] and suggests that politics may have something to do with Gov. Rick Perry's support of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and vice versa. Perry's reliance on the right and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's "incompetent, tin-eared campaigning" could encourage more Democrats to jump [3] into the race for governor, Off the Kuff says. And Blogabear has a post on the GOP gubernatorial primary featuring a black-and-white photo of a youthful Hutchison [4].
Burnt Orange Report argues that Debra Medina should be taken seriously [5] as a gubernatorial candidate, because of: the power of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the backing of libertarian newspapers, her stance against term limits and the conflict between the GOP and Libertarians. Meanwhile, Empower Texans exploits Sen. Kirk Watson's Scanners moment on MSNBC in a commercial [6] starring a guy dressed like Michael Williams, via Blue Dot Blues. And Greg's Opinion takes a gander at election results in the state's five biggest counties, comparing 2002 to 2006 [7] and 2004 to 2008 [8]. Long story short, Republicans aren't doing as well as they used to in the big cities.
Whosplayin looks at who's running for the North Texas congressional seat [9] held by U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess. The GOP incumbent has drawn challenges from a Democrat, an independent and a Republican, Earle Davis II of Keller. According to his MySpace [10] page, the mustachioed Davis' campaign slogan is "Restore Our Constitution, Liberty & Freedom." He's a Libra and includes "The Alamo" among his favorite books, movies and heroes.
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Cash Considerations
Burnt Orange checks out the bank accounts of 10 incumbent Democrats [11] in the House after the recent release of ethics reports. El Paso legislators didn't have a whole lot of money [12] to write about, reports Vaqueros & Wonkeros, the El Paso Times' blog. (Rep. Norma Chavez only brought in $699, about one-fifth the cost of her college graduation party.)
Bay Area Houston finds some interesting expenses incurred by Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, who drew a record $75,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission for spending "$162,044.87 of his donor's money on cattle, western guns, western art, western clothing, western books, golf, art, and an unknown amount on food and coffee [13]," according to the blogger.
The Public Safety Commission isn't pleased [14] with the company responsible for collecting "Driver Responsibility" surcharges for the Department of Public Safety, Grits for Breakfast says. And a federal judge dismissed charges of insider trading [15] against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the man behind blog maverick, according to Tex Parte Blog.
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Under Fed
A complicated chart [16] depicting the Democrats' healthcare reform plan thrust U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady into the mass media spotlight, reports the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac, linking to a website [17] that offers Brady's chart on more than 50 kinds of t-shirts, in addition to tote bags, teddy bears, pet bowls, coffee mugs, beer steins and baby clothes. (No word on who owns the rights to the image or who will profit from the sale of merchandise.)
U.S. Rep. Pete Olson attracted a crowd of near 200 in Missouri City, by Lone Star Times' reckoning. Olson rapped about the economy, cap-and-trade and health care. Apparently the Dems are steamrolling the GOP [18] on all counts. Lone Star Times says the Harris County GOP needs to follow RNC chair Michael Steele's lead and welcome minority groups and non-social conservatives into the big tent [19], if the party's going to survive.
Potomac covered the confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court and put all the posts in one convenient location [20]. And Texas "Off the Record" talks U.S. Presidents [21] with longtime Associated Press shooter Harry Cabluck.
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Informatics
Five out of six [22] bills Texas Watchdog was paying attention to this past session failed to become law. The Houston airport's nonprofit doesn't want Watchdog or Mayor Bill White to know what it's been up to [23], says Watchdog. And Defending People is no longer publishing anonymous comments [24].
Some state school board members are suspicious of their colleagues' decision to fire the board's investment counselor. "There were cryptic references [25] to conflicts of interest and inadequate disclosure," according to the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics.
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News Items
Watchdog was interviewed [26] by a reporter from PBS' the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. And Potomac puts together a Best of Walter Cronkite [27] video tribute in honor of the former CBS newscaster.
The governor's office is still on the lookout [28] for the right person to succeed Albert Hawkins as Health and Human Services Commissioner, reports the Dallas Morning News' Trail Blazers. (Their best guess: Austin lawyer Lowell Keig.) And if the man in the photo is who mean rachel says he is, then she snapped a photo of GOP strategist Karl Rove loading cardboard boxes into an SUV [29].
By March 2010, the appeals process in Texas will be paperless [30], reports Tex Parte Blog. Meanwhile, Walker Report hit the half-a-million [31] page views mark on Saturday, and Dos Centavos reports on the opening of a district office [32] by his favorite freshman Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston.
If you see one documentary about the border fence this summer [33], make it The Wall, says Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, in his A Capitol Blog.
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 [34] 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 [35].