August could be a big political month, and the conversations are picking up. The state's blogosphere bubbled with the emergence of the Texas Tribune (which affected us, too) and other media events. Bloggers are also chatting about things related to The Law, political jockeying and goings on in Washington, D.C. Closing the curtain is a showdown between arch-liberal and ultra-conservative activists, plus more news.
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Racing Starts
Rumor has it that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will make her official announcement for governor on Aug. 17, according to the Dallas Morning Trail Blazers. To prepare for the showdown, Gov. Rick Perry's spending five nights in California to raise money and court business folk, Trail Blazers says.
Texans for Rick Perry is pushing an online, viral, word-of-mouth strategy to build a campaign network. It's called "Home Headquarters," and it works kind of like a chain letter, but different. Watch the video for details.
Burnt Orange Report ran Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer through their liberal detecting machine, concluding that the blood running through Schieffer's veins is, indeed, dark blue. "After an hour conversation, we are confident that Schieffer will be a champion of core Democratic issues," the bloggers say.
Potential U.S. Senate candidate and Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams had Panhandle's Perspective cooing like a turtledove in Amarillo with his talk about proposed "cap-and-trade" legislation on carbon dioxide emissions. ("I like the way he referred to it as the bill that would "cap our economy and send trade somewhere else,"" the blogger says.)
In a Watson Wire report, plausible statewide contender Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, takes a shot at Perry for his handling of state unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, vanquished Perry opponent Chris Bell is the subject of Texas on the Potomac's weekly "Where Are They Now?" feature. Bell tells the blogger that his political future will be "on the sidelines."
Lone Star Times attended a voter education meeting for Republicans in Houston. The main presenter argued that the GOP needs to focus on pulling in urban voters. The blogger's got more information and some photos, too. Meanwhile, Off the Kuff has put together "A tour of the July campaign finance reports," organizing the data according to what kind of contest the incumbents are likely looking at in 2010. And Burnt Orange checks out financial reports for the Austin area's State Board of Education District 10. There's not a lot of cash in there, with Democrat Judy Jennings claiming about $10,000 on hand and Republican incumbent Cynthia Dunbar reporting $672.66.
Texas Politics links to the Texas Lyceum's 2009 journal of ideas, featuring essays by Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, and Houston Mayor Bill White, among others. And the El Paso County Democratic Party chair Danny Anchondo tells Vaqueros that he's not planning on challenging Chavez in next year's primary.
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Legal Briefs
BurkaBlog posts on the indictment of Rep. Kino Flores, D-Palmview, for ethics law violations. The comments section is the best part of the post, with Burka saying Flores is the most flagrant at omitting things from ethics reports ("except maybe [Lt. Gov. David] Dewhurst") and commenters broaching topics such as HillCo, racehorses, Flores' potential opponent and his future successor.
Judge Manuel Bañales has been taken off the Maurico Celis case due to a possible conflict of interest involving fundraising and such. After being convicted of falsely impersonating a lawyer, prominent Democratic moneyman Celis was given 10 years' probation by Bañales. Tex Parte Blog says Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson will pick the new judge if there's another trial.
A lobbyist who said she felt obligated to chip in for El Paso Rep. Norma Chavez's college graduation party has retracted her earlier assertion, according to NewspaperTree.com Blog. "The lobbyist, Claudia Russell, broke the number one rule of lobbying — YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT LOBBYING TO OUTSIDERS!" says Refuse the Juice.
Here's the latest from Texas Watchdog in its continuing scrutiny of the Houston airport's nonprofit affiliate. Meanwhile, Tex Parte Blog wraps up coverage of the "ugly spectacle" of the imprisonment and near-impeachment of former Judge Samuel Kent. And Grits for Breakfast looks at stats on inmates serving life sentences in Texas and other states.
Grits (and Mrs. Grits) are proposing the creation of an indigency program for folks paying "Driver Responsibility" surcharges on traffic violations. The blogger posts a call for support here. Erstwhile, Friends of Justice observes the 10th anniversary of the Tulia drug sting.
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Inside I-495
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess is not the author of a bogus email circulating the Internets that's filled with fraudulent claims about Pres. Barack Obama's health care proposals, says Whosplayin after checking with Burgess' staff.
After taking into account U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's reasoning for his rejection of Sandra Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court, Tex Parte says, "Cornyn's vote is why the Republican Party should worry about keeping its stronghold in Texas in the future -- a state that has an enormous Hispanic voting population that grows larger and larger each year." But Panhandle's Perspective is happy about Cornyn's recent appointment to the Senate Agriculture committee, at least.
According to a Zogby poll, 80 percent of Americans oppose U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's proposed congressional resolution to honor singer Michael Jackson, says the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac. Ouch.
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Five Bits
Outside Cornyn's Houston office, Texas Kaos and other MoveOn.org activists got into a West Side Story type confrontation with North Texas TEA Party members (only without the singing). They weren't all that tough, Kaos says afterward.
The Statesman's Public Capital blog is paying attention to a question posed to the Attorney General -- Is a proposed $500 supplemental payment from the General Fund to members of the Employees Retirement System unconstitutional?
NewspaperTree.com Blog flicked on the TV and spotted El Paso Rep. Chavez and a couple of political staffers ringside for a boxing match. And the Austin Chronicle's newsdesk reports that Texas firm Ford Powell Carson has been picked to lead the restoration of the burned out Governor's Mansion.
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Tribune & Co.
Brazosport News isn't convinced that the Tribune's nonprofit model is going to work, since major donors might not like the spotlight they're helping to keep shining. The blogger links to an interview by Reflections of a Newsosaur with the Tribune's founding chair John Thornton.
KVUE's Political Junkie bids adieu to television journalism as she prepares to move on to the Tribune. In the interim, fans can keep current on all things Elise Hu at new blog Hey Elise. Another Tribune staffer, the El Paso Times' Vaqueros & Wonkeros, also says adios, but doesn't leave a personal forwarding address.
Texas Watchdog reports on a state appeals court decision granting an online reporter the same legal protections as traditional journalists. That could come in handy someday for recent college graduate Andrew Strong, who's the newest blogger for Texas Prison Bid'ness.
Bay Area Houston is taking care of musings while the blogger is on vacation in Hawaii. And the Austin American-Statesman's First Reading blog has a podcast with KXAN's Jenny Hoff, wherein they discuss her Sunday morning Texas political news show and other stuff.
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 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.
