Perhaps you never hung on every naughty, sensuous word of Gael Greene, who was New York magazine’s head restaurant critic for decades. But lots of us did, and when the news boiled over earlier this week that La Gael had gotten the sack, we were stunned. As one of her
Burka and Eileen preview the legislative sunset: How does an agency “misplace” $1 billion? Or lose one-third of its criminal files? Or let the governor’s mansion get torched? Or screw Texas homeowners? Don’t get mad, get even. Honorably mentioned: Steve Ogden, Lois Kolkhorst, John Carona, and Wayne Smith. Not so
One of my favorite web sites is Stratfor.com, a private, Austin- and Washington-based firm that specializes in geopolitical analysis. Yesterday’s analysis focused on Obama’s approach to governing. If that seems a trifle far from geopolitics, Stratfor points out that what Obama decides will impact a world that remains
Bud Royer, aka the Pie Man, just called to congratulate me on our Texas cafes story (the December cover). And that reminded me that Royers Round Top Cafe makes my favorite mail-order pies in Texas. And, yes, you can still order a pie for Thanksgiving–they do one-day shipping
I am going to publish below an e-mail and corresponding op-ed that I received from Senator Eliot Shapleigh. It requires no explanation. # # # # This is Shapleigh's letter to me: I’ve read your recent pieces on major issues, including tuition. In my view you miss the point. After
This is from Mike Allen’s “Playbook”: BREAKING: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports JIM STEINBERG will be DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE, barring unforeseen developments. She hears both Obama and Senator Clinton want it. Steinberg, deputy national security adviser for President Bill Clinton, is now dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of
Here’s the problem for Tom Craddick. The House passed tuition deregulation in 2003 for one reason and one reason only: The speaker twisted Republicans’ arms to get the votes. Almost six years later, tuition and fees at Texas’s public university have risen by an average of 50%, according to Robert
How many readers realize that today, November 22, is the 45th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination? It has been interesting to see time do its work on the collective memory. As recently as 1991, the assassination’s hold on the American imagination was sufficient to get the Hollywood treatment: Oliver Stone’s
If you haven’t been to Cover 3, go. We had a fantastic meal at this stylish new restaurant (it opened last week) on Anderson Lane in Austin. We admit we were a little skeptical of the concept–a high-end sports bar?–but we liked what we saw. And so
In 1982, Ronald Reagan's first mid-term election, a Democratic wave swept the state. Republicans had mounted a major challenge to the D's control of most statewide offices (governor excepted), and U.S. senator Lloyd Bentsen and lieutenant governor Bill Hobby used their muscle to build the best Democratic organization Texas had
Honorably Mentioned: Burt Solomons, Jim Keffer, Craig Eiland, Brian McCall, Rafael Anchia, Charlie Geren, Warren Chisum, Phil King, and Rob Junell (naturally). If you do not see your name on the list, you have given us no reason to talk about you. (Go watch it on our homepage so I
The New York-based Zagat guides have just come out with their latest rankings of hotels, resorts, and spas. What’s number one in the country? Texas’ own Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Fearing’s restaurant, in Dallas. Here’s what the breathless news release says: ‘Rated extraordinary to perfection in each
Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metullus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou hast wrong’d Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar. If
Putting on my best faux-reporter voice, I called Rep. Solomons to find out why he would be so crazy as to run for Speaker. I wanted to give him the opportunity that we gave to the other 140 candidates to send along an Official Declaration of Intent. Solomons noted that
I don’t think he’s going to be the last one to do it, either. Solomons is the most serious threat to Craddick of the candidates filing thus far. Here’s why: 1. He’s a mainstream Republican. No one can accuse him of being an ABC or a RINO. A challenger who
This article appeared in the November 7 issue of The Lone Star Report. It was written by Will Lutz, who has covered state government for ten years. It is addressed, though not explicitly, to Republicans who are in denial about why they are losing ground in Texas and
So find yourself a Speaker to love. FAIR WARNING. This is a video. It is not required viewing. It may take eight minutes to watch. I only push play to increase traffic, and to improve my broadcast media skills. It’s not working. (And you try looking good at the end
Very good work here [“Speaker’s race: Not Craddick — 74, Craddick Ceiling — 63”], a member-by-member analysis of where the House stands on the speaker’s race. The methodology is to look at members’ public statements and votes. They did a great job. But they’re wrong. The problem with
Social justice, moral rectitude, and mass compassion aren’t usually washed down with a margarita, but Carlos Santana believes he can serve up all of this and some delicious duck tacos at Maria Maria, a restaurant chain (they also have Joe Di Maggio’s in the Domain) with the first Texas outlet
11/14 Update: Peer Pressure works again! Now we have eight of the nine. (Delwin Jones, please report to me.) So who’s your favorite? Naturally, in the interest of bipartisanship and journalistic ethics, I will not be revealing my choice. 11/14 Update #2: Delwin Jones’s statement was lost in Evan Smith’s
So says South Texas Scandal, a blog that describes its mission as follows: With a notorious past of political corruption, South Texas has made a lot of progress in recent years to clean up its act. But there remain some Patrones who continue to cling to the old
Eileen and Paul talk about if the Speaker even matters, Craddicks and Anti-Craddicks, and whether Tom was popular in high school. Honorably Mentioned: Dan Branch, Lois Kolkhorst, Pete Gallego, Jim Dunnam, and, of course, Speaker Craddick
I note with sadness the passing of Douglas Sloan Harlan, 65, of San Antonio, a longtime friend dating back to our college days at Rice University. Doug was a staunch Republican in the days when the GOP was struggling to establish itself as a force in this state. In 1972
Latest video: Burka on the Speaker’s race, naming names, the “Craddick Effect” (copyright pending), and broken pledges. For the first time, Paul wonders if Craddick can keep his post. Honorably Mentioned: the candidates, the Conservative Coalition, Plan B, and Warren Chisum. (Note: If you are having trouble viewing this,
As everyone knows by now, Republicans have lost 12 seats since Craddick became speaker. Eight of these losses occurred in the last two elections. The main reason for these losses was not Craddick; it was George W. Bush. But I do think that a close scrutiny of seats won and
Eileen talks with Burka about the cantankerous Speaker’s race, a House divided, Craddick D’s, ABC’s, and 2010 with KBH. Honorable video mentions include: Reps. Tommy Merritt; Jim Keffer; Pete Gallego; Craig Eiland; Dan Gattis; Alan Ritter; and Sylvester Turner.
Gary Scharrer of the Express-News posted a story on the paper’s web site in which several in which, for the first time, a Republican supporter of Craddick says for the record that the speaker is hurting the Republican party. The story quotes two Republican members. One, a chairman,
Tom Craddick has told lieutenants that he has no intention of relinquishing the speakership. If the Republicans have a majority of one, he still will insist that all R’s support him and him alone. An interesting tactical question is whether time is on Craddick’s side or against him. The argument
I know I really shouldn’t pass along gossip, really I shouldn’t, and I wouldn’t do it if I were still a serious journalist instead of just a blogger, really I wouldn’t do it, honest, but a lobbyist just called to say that at a hearing Duncan is having at the
Is this slender margin enough for Craddick to stay in power? The answer is a thundering “maybe.” His fate depends upon three factors: (1) How will the Republicans’ net loss of three seats be viewed by the GOP members and the Republican establishment? Craddick’s supporters will spin the election results
In a nutshell: Democrats did very well in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In the rest of the state, not so well. Their hopes for picking up multiple seats in Harris County did not bear fruit. They lost one of their few rural seats in Robbie Cook's old district. I'm going
And he deserves it. In the race for chief justice, 3rd court of appeals, Woodie Jones leads Law, who wrote an opinion that exonerated Tom DeLay, by 15 points or around 75,000 votes.
Davis (R), Bohac (R) hold substantial leads Thibaut (D) over Murphy (R) by 1,000 votes or around 5 points Legler (R) over Redmond (D) by 500 votes or around 2 points Vo (D) well ahead of Meyers (R) by 5,000 votes or around 17 points No swing so far in
Shelton (R) over Barrett (D) by around 5,000 votes. No surprise here. Turner (D) over Zedler by around 6,000 votes. Miklos (D) over Anderson (R) by around 2.500 votes, or 9 points Kent (D) over Goolsby (R) by around 2,000 votes, or 7 points Romano (D) over Harper-Brown (R) by
Davis 112,504 57.64 Brimer 102,185 40.39 Chris Harris has a 52.70 – 45.12 lead over a weak opponent, or about 13,000 votes Mike Jackson is cruising over Joe Jaworski, a 17-point, 20,000 vote lead.
These are really interesting. Collin, Denton, and Montgomery counties are just like the good old days when Texas was a one-party Republican state. Collin McCain 134,865 61.32 Obama 83,746 38.08 Denton McCain 110,014 60.90 Obama 70,130 38.69 Montgomery McCain 78,660 76.16 Obama 24,148 23.38 But look at … Fort Bend
McCain 34,753 52.87 Obama 30,485 46.83 Nueces County is a Republican county.
Early votes statewide McCain 1.71 million 51.98% Obama 1.56 million 47.39% Dallas County early vote McCain 202,246 39.41% Obama 305,501 60.13% Harris County early vote McCain 335,028 46.12 Obama 387,489 53.34 Actually, I think the Harris County numbers are good news for Republicans, as bad news goes. They didn’t get
I’m going to live-blog the election tonight. As fast as the secretary of state’s office posts returns in key races, I will endeavor to get them posted. If you’re interested in the national races, watch CNN or Fox. I am going to focus on Texas exclusively. Who cares about the
Come January, Dallas is scheduled to get a new revolving restaurant atop Reunion Tower, courtesy of chef Wolfgang Puck. (The Tower is the dandelion-topped building from the opening credits of the TV show “Dallas,” in case you’re not from the city.) The name of the restaurant hasn’t been announced–in other
Here is what to watch for. If Craddick has the votes, he will lay out the names. If he doesn’t lay out the names, he doesn’t have the votes.
Why is it that the Democrats insist on trying to act bossy? Is it genetic? Can’t they help themselves? The demand upon party discipline before they have won a majority is foolish. My last post on this subject was, I have to admit, a bit on the hysterical side, and
This joint is all about meat. There is a large cooling case at the entrance where you can choose your own raw steak to be grilled per your specifications. Whether you want steak or bbq, everyone waits in the same line . . . unless you choose
I am going to use this format to update daily the number of early votes cast in the fifteen counties with the most registered voters, ranked by the Secretary of State in the order of most to least registered voters. I am also going to include the numbers for the
Thanks to Dr. Robert Bezdek, professor of political science at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, for e-mailing me his analysis of the early vote in Nueces County. Bezdek divided the turnout into quintiles, based on the percentage of voters with Spanish surnames (SS). The numbers in parenthesis represent the overall turnout in
From Ron Brownstein, formerly of the L.A. Times, now with the National Journal. He was in town for the Texas Book Festival and I had breakfast with him and a friend yesterday. “He was entirely too comfortable with being president of half the country.”
Hillary Clinton has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, visited troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and successfully dodged hostile (as opposed to agreeable) gunfire in Bosnia.
Candidates for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives tell us why they think they should hold the highly coveted gavel.
Journalists and other notables to give us their reactions to the long campaign and the election of Barack Obama.
Reader comments in the final days of the election.