I received this communication from State Republican Executive Committee member Mark McCaig in response to my post about Tina Benkiser’s resignation as state chairman of the SREC. McCaig has been a critic of Benkiser’s leadership and had considered running against her had she run for reelection. McCaig writes: I do
The former lieutenant governor called to say that the reason for Kennedy’s trip to Texas in November 1963 was not because he was worried about the feud between U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough and Governor John Connally, or Don Yarborough’s role in it. Rather — and he says he was involved
"Things are seldom what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream." --Gilbert and Sullivan A reputable GOP consultant who is not engaged with either gubernatorial campaign has concluded after looking at the crosstabs of the Rasmussen poll that the poll's conclusion that Hutchison is leading by Perry by 2 points
Benkiser, whose title will be senior adviser, brings to the table a knowledge of all the players in the GOP--SREC members, county chairs, precinct chairs, the big fundraisers, the state party organization, the whole works. That's worth something. On the other hand, her leadership of the party has been challenged
Two trips in two years, and it was pouring down rain both times. I guess the sun shines in Lillian, I just haven’t seen it. It’s not like you pass through a place like Lillian. With Cedar Hill State Park to the east and nothing to the
My cell phone rang while I was fumbling around with my credit card paying for a Greek salad at lunch today. It was Andrew Weissmann, chef/ower of Le Reve in San Antonio. “Are you sitting down?” he said. The only acceptable answer to that question is, “I am now.” “Well,”
I know: There are more “restaurant weeks” than you can shake a stick at. But the one that’s coming up, sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “Go Texan” program, is an especially good one because it benefits local food banks. It’s happening Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 in all
From the Hutchison campaign, 23 September: Instead Of Cutting Spending, Rick Perry Balanced The Budget Through $12.1 Billion In Federal Stimulus Funds. “With little debate, the Texas House passed its largest budget ever Friday, a day after senators also breezed through the $182.3 billion plan for the next two years.
I get more free cookbooks at the office than I could use if I cooked ten meals a day for the rest of my life. It’s an occupational hazard of being a food writer. I give a lot of them away, but this is one I think I’ll keep for
Updating yesterday’s post, from the family: Donald Howard Yarborough, who ran for governor of Texas three times and helped mobilize the progressive democratic movement in Texas against the conservative big-oil factions that had so long dominated the state, died peacefully in his sleep today/Wednesday/Sept. 23 at his home in Houston,
This writeup was sent by one of his daughters, Sophie Yarborough. According to Ms. Yarborough, her father is gravely ill. I will request that commenters show proper respect in posting their remarks. Donald Howard Yarborough, who ran for governor of Texas three times and helped mobilize the progressive Democratic movement
Stopped in at Asti for a quick lunch, got the daily panino, expecting a good basic sammy. Wow! Homemade focaccia, toasty, slathered with house mozzarella & thin-sliced salami with a tart-sweet rosemary balsamic reduction. What a treat! They don’t have it every day but I’ll bet if you begged, they
Austin diners will be devastated: Mark Schmidt (formerly of Cafe 909 in Marble Falls), has left his gig at Annie’s (formerly Apple Annie’s). Man, that didn’t last long. And it seemed like such a perfect match. I’ve asked what the deal is, haven’t had time to hear back yet.
Houston’s KHOU broke the story. A commenter sent the audiotape, which I listened to. Here is what I heard on the audiotape. After Perry asks, “Are we in one?” — referring to a recession — and the laughter, Perry says: But seriously, the fact is that because we
The Observer newspaper in London has picked up our barbecue story from May 2008, where we listed Snow’s (in the Central Texas burg of Lexington, Texas) as number one in the state. On Sunday, Snow’s was included in the Observer’s fun wrap-up of “the fifty best things to eat
The liberal Democratic blog Huffington Post assailed Rick Perry today, devoting a full page to his foibles. It won’t affect the Republican gubernatorial primary, though, since no R’s read Huffington Post. Various unflattering photos of Perry appear on the Web site. Here are the topics: –“Rick Perry admits,
This is an excerpt from a newspaper story about Governor Perry’s appearance before the combined chambers of commerce of Deer Park, Pasadena, and South Belt/Ellington. The e-mail from the Perry campaign says that it appeared in the Deer Park Broadcaster and the Pasadena Citizen: Perry acknowledged that Texas is
I haven’t previously paid much attention to the candidacy of Debra Medina, of Wharton, for the Republican nomination for governor, but when the Rasmussen poll shows Hutchison ahead of Perry by 2% and Medina gets 3%, perhaps it’s time to pay attention. This race is fertile ground for a wild-card
Senator Patrick e-mailed me a report about Perry’s appearance at the Greater Houston Partnership. I posted it in the comments to “Let them eat Chili.” Readers are invited to read Senator Patrick’s comments and reach their own conclusions.
“Collin Watcher,” a reader, posted a comment to the article, “Let them eat chili,” about the video of Rick Perry speaking to a Houston business group, in which Perry refers to a report that Texas will be the first state to come out of the recession, and then jokes, Are
This is the YouTube link for Perry’s comments yesterday about Texas being recession-proof before an audience of business leaders in Houston. * * * * Here is the transcript of what Perry said: “Why is Texas kind of recession-proof, if you will? As a matter of fact, just
Hutchison 40%, Perry 38%. This is a stunning development. Hutchison was down 46-36 in July and had a poor rollout of her campaign in August. What accounts for the turnaround? 1. Overconfidence and misjudgments in the Perry camp. I have had a number of conversations with Perry supporters,
From the Hutchison daily e-mail: Hutchison also has taken issue with Perry taking credit for Texas’ ability to weather the economic storm that has depleted other states’ coffers. Hutchison admitted that Texas is doing better than other states in the slow economy. “The reason we are doing better is that
From the press release: Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, D-Palmview, whose legislative seniority and expertise have allowed him to successfully champion issues that are crucial to South Texans – including securing more than $1 billion for public education, transportation, and health programs for the Valley – on Tuesday, September 15, announced
The Hutchison campaign is doing a better job of having a daily presence—it couldn’t have done a worse job—but it is still too reminiscent of a high school debate approach. By that I mean the campaign is trying to attack here and probe for a weakness there without developing the
Is nothing sacred? Playing politics with the Texas Rangers ought to be off limits. And if the governor is going to play politics with them, shouldn’t the governor have to say how many Rangers he is deploying? Is it two, or twenty? The El Paso Times published a
So, what’s he really running for and how can we tell? The best clue may be Steve Ogden’s decision not to seek reelection. Ogden has been chair of Senate Finance. The likelihood is that under a different lieutenant governor, he would not be chairman again. And there’s not much reason
Austin folks, if you’re not out running around naked in the rain (hallelujah!) this Saturday, you could do a lot worse than check out the Asia Food Fest at the Texas Culinary Academy. It’s really fun, with a ton of activities including an Iron Chef-style contest (full disclosure: I’m one
Here are some conditions that may — indeed, should — apply to its return. I found this by googling “Ray Bowen bonfire recommendations.” University president Ray Bowen said Friday [I believe the date referred to is September 8, 2001] that when the tradition does resume, in 2002 at
Two more reasons why Dewhurst decided to announce that he is running for reelection: (1) I am told by two sources that he called Hutchison to ask about her plans — was she going to resign her seat and if so, when — and he did not like the answer
A commenter complained that I had ignored Obama’s “truly historic” speech to write about a right-wing charge that Obama had removed “In God We Trust” from the new $1 coin. I didn’t see the speech live but I did read the transcript, and I didn’t consider the speech to be
The latest anti-Obama complaint that is being circulated by e-mail among conservatives is that the new silver dollar drops the national motto, “In God We Trust.” The e-mails call upon recipients to refuse to accept the silver dollar and force it to be removed from circulation. This seemed so nutty
Dewhurst’s decision to announce for lieutenant governor has touched off intense speculation about whether this is a final decision or a keep-my-options-open decision. Dewhurst has always wanted to be governor, and so I think his plan is to succeed Perry upon his retirement in January 2019. But seriously, folks …
This report is from Senior Editor Pam Colloff: In the course of working on an oral history of the A&M Bonfire tragedy for our November issue—a story that will mark the tenth anniversary of the Bonfire tragedy, which claimed the lives of twelve Aggies—I had the opportunity to interview Rick
From the AP story: Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as President Barack Obama met Democratic leaders to search for ways to salvage his health care overhaul. Has Obama lost his mind? Have the
He was in town having lunch with a friend and I had the opportunity to visit with him. He said that he expected to finish his book on the Bush Administration in the next week or so, and it would be on the spring list. He was very interested in
The Hutchison campaign sent out this broadside against the governor today for his office’s action in demanding the resignations of two Texas Tech regents for their support of Kay Bailey Hutchison: “The message is clear for every single dedicated public servant in Texas: Either pledge support for Rick Perry or
This is one of those flaps that is hard to believe. Conservatives are going nuts over Obama’s plan to speak to school kids urging them to stay in school. For sheer hysteria, it is hard to top Debbie Riddle’s letter to constituents: By now, most of you are aware that
… Pete Laney. He appeals to Democrats on the left and on the right. He can win votes in rural Texas, where Democrats are weakest. He has friends throughout the state. He knows the issues backwards and forwards. His personality oozes authenticity. He was a state leader in the days
If you’re the type who MUST be first with everything, today would be a good time to check out chef John Tesar’s new restaurant in the Woodlands (north of Houston). It’s opening, yes, today, so you know the poor guy is probably ready to set his hair on fire about
I missed this story from the New York Times over the weekend. The 30-paper Freedom Communications company, whose lead paper is the Orange County Register, is filing for a Chapter 11 reorganization. The Texas papers affected include: –Brownsville Herald –Mid-Valley Town Crier (Weslaco) –Valley Morning Star (Harlingen) –McAllen
He has no policy, he is not serious, he is not credible. Moreover, he has no intention of ever becoming serious, of becoming credible, or caring about policy for more than the two seconds it takes for him to exhale his stank-filled cigar smoke — or for him to go
A colleague in Dallas reports that Leppert had a daylong meeting with the Scott Howell firm, and fundraiser Carol Reed was present as well. This sounds serious. Suggestion: Figure out a response for the certain-to-be-asked question: Why did you change your mind when you said that mayor of Dallas was
My earlier post, “Missing…,” which dealt with the Hutchison campaign’s daily e-mail, “The Hutchison Huddle,” apparently has caused quite a kerfuffle. To sum up, the gist of the e-mail was that the Perry campaign’s bill signing ceremonies were really campaign appearances and should be paid for by campaign funds. I
…My post about “The Hutchison Huddle,” which I inadvertently deleted. The Hutchison Huddle is a daily collection of e-mail messages from Joe Pounder of the Hutchison campaign. The one that I picked from today’s e-mail read: While Kay Bailey Hutchison is on the campaign trail talking with Texas voters, Rick
Back in July, the Dallas Observer broke the news that mayor Tom Leppert was considering joining the free-for-all that would be the race to fill the seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she will vacate, although she has appeared to back away somewhat from that pronouncement. To this point
Despite its status as a public health emergency, is the swine flu just another flu?
The original dirty dancer, Patrick Swayze, died Monday at the age of 57.
Daniel Miller, the president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, is a proud secessionist. And the tea parties were just the beginning for this true believer.
Colum McCann’s new novel revolves around Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974.
