The Republican field has been complete since Perry announced his candidacy. He immediately zoomed to the top of the polls but he has slipped into mediocrity since then. Not only is there no clear leader at the present time, but it is not at all obvious who would benefit from
The poll results: Paul 37% Cain 23% Santorum 16% Perry 8%, Bachmann 8% Gingrich 3% Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, the group that was behind Perry’s prayer meeting in August, later cast doubts on the voting, suggesting that Paul’s supporters had stuffed the ballot boxes. The summit is
Why Perry will win, from a Perry insider, paraphrasing Perry’s consultant: Republicans haven’t nominated a presidential candidate from the northeast since Dewey in ’48. (Nixon lived in New York and practiced law there but was always identified with California. Eisenhower wasn’t really associated with any particular part of the country,
Editor's Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we'll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog (fire away in comments section).Today it's Angela Ashley, 54, of
When you think "BBQ in Lockhart," you think Kreuz & Smitty's - but a lot of people swear by Black's. And when you think "taco trailer on South 1st St.," you think Torchy's - but there's also Izzoz Tacos, which opened in December of 2008 in the same parking
I’m not surprised. As I said last when the Daily Beast‘s Jill Lawrence wrote that Perry needed an economic plan, there is no chance, zip, zero, zilch, none, that Perry would come out with a detailed plan. It’s not what they do. Perry is going to stick to the Carney
It's been a long time in the making (a VERY long time in the making): John Mueller, sometimes called the black sheep of the Taylor smoked meat family, is almost back in business here in Austin. Mueller, who used to have
She’s a media personality now. There was no way she could run for president when a majority of the Republican electorate doesn’t want her to.
Governor Perry faces another hurdle on the issue of race. It is whether the Department of Motor Vehicles should allow specialty license plates that carry the emblem of the Confederate battle flag. Senator Royce West went public with his concerns earlier today. West put out a statement that I will
This is what he told me in a conversation we had earlier today. The reason is higher-than-expected sales tax receipts and a similar bonanza of oil and gas money for the Rainy Day Fund, above the comptroller’s estimate. Due to the increased revenue, Ogden said, there will be fewer layoffs
$17.1 million raised in the third quarter fundraising period. This is a very impressive performance. It buys time and staying power through the next rounds of debates and into the early primaries. The accelerated primary schedule benefits candidates with the most money. (The original version of this post said $18.1
From Public Policy Polling: There’s been a lot of discussion in the last week about the role of the Hispanic vote in next year’s election. Here’s the bottom line on our polling: Obama’s approval numbers with Hispanics are down. And because of that Obama’s winning margins with Hispanics would
The Republican War Room poll (Sept. 30), from the Houston Chronicle: Romney 28.2% Cain 23.7% Gingrich 9.8% Perry 9.1% Perry has dropped 15 points in ten days. Florida is arguably the most important state in the country in Republican politics. Texas has more delegates, but Texas is not in
October 4, 1957. It was the day that the Soviet Union sent Sputnik into space and caused a near panic among Americans who feared that their country was failing in the Cold War and in the space race. John F. Kennedy exploited the concern of a “missile gap” to win
The sample covers 1,002 adults and covers the dates of September 19-October 2. Repondents were divided into “lean-Republican” voters and “registered voters.” From the Post’s story: After a quick rise in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has experienced an almost equally dramatic decline,
The next Republican debate, presented by the Washington Post and Bloomberg News, will be held on October 11 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Charlie Rose will be the moderator. Here is the official statement by the sponsors: The Washington Post-Bloomberg debate will focus on the issues voters say
A Perry supporter with ties to the campaign observes that Perry is not getting the enthusiastic treatment from Fox he has always enjoyed in the past. This could be a function of his struggling campaign, or of the confusion of the Republican primary race, but it could also be (the
A commenter tipped me to this story that appears on a new San Antonio blog called Plaza de Armas. The bloggers are former investigative reporters for the San Antonio Express News and the Current. The gist of the story is that U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz, a well known attorney,
This one from Zogby IBOPE, the latter initials refer to a Brazilian firm that has acquired the Zogby operation. This poll is described as “interactive” but what that means is not explained. The respondents are “all likely voters and likely Republican primary voters.” This gibberish is a good reason why
Erick Erickson posted this on Redstate.com today: Hugh Hewitt has a good takedown of this. It shows the extent to which the Democrats will go to attack Republicans. Stephanie McCrummen, a Washington Post based reporter formerly stationed in Nairobi has a history of fanning racial flames out of context.
I am hesitant to opine on things I don't know much about, and so I am loathe to comment on the Washington Post story about what the Post describes as "his family's secluded West Texas hunting camp." The gist of the story, for those unfamiliar with the Post's version,"
STEVE OGDEN He was the best senator of his time, the most visionary, the most respected. A perennial Ten Best legislator, he chaired Senate Finance throughout Dewhurst’s years as Lieutenant Governor. Most chairman do what just about every other chairman has done–add a few dollars to an agency’s budget here,
Many readers will be familiar with this poll since it has received a great deal of coverage. The poll was posted on September 29. The sample covers 925 registered voters, and there was a smaller subset of likely Republican voters. Romney 23% Perry 19% Cain 17% Gingrich 11% Bachmann 3%
The poll was conducted by American Research Group (ARG) Sample Size: 600 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of likely Republican caucus goers living in Iowa (517 Republicans and 83 no party (independent) voters). Sample Dates: September 22-27, 2011 Margin of Error: ± 4 percentage points, 95% of the
Writing in the Daily Beast earlier this week, Jill Lawrence said that the "missing piece" in Rick Perry's presidential campaign was his blueprint for America. Her recommendation was that Perry should make up for his poor debate performances by coming out with a plan: "Rick Perry would be less
From tranquil lodging in the middle of bustling Houston to candle-lit breakfasts near the beach, these five B&Bs are guaranteed to please.
Fire Relief benefit concert, Poncho Sanchez, Lone Star Gourd Festival, and a screening of Some Girls Live in Texas 78 . . .
The World Series, ZZ Top, Costume Art Ball, and the Texas Mushroom Festival . . .
Thunder Soul, a documentary about the Kashmere High School Stage Band's return to the stage after 35 years, makes a powerful argument for the necessity of arts education.
Dolly Parton, 85 years at the Witte Museum, Red River Rivalry, and the Texas Rose Festival . . .
The author and former Cowboys wide receiver died in his hometown of Bangor, Michigan, on Friday at the age of 69. Our coverage of North Dallas Forty (both the novel and the movie) through the years.
Tiny and remote Marfa is poised to be a rock-star magnet.
Roky Erickson, the Orchid Festival, Texas Literary Life with Sarah Bird and Stephen Harrigan, and SXSW Eco . . .
When the Rice MOB marches, stodginess scatters.
A Lonesome Dove Weekend, the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love, TEDxTheWoodlands, and the 44th Original Round Top Fall Antiques Fair . . .
Photograph by LeAnn Mueller. Hair by Terri Apanasewicz for Cloutier Remix. Makeup by Billy B. Styling by Tiffany Gifford.
Prudence Mackintosh, Brian Johnson, and Justin Clemons.
Some writers are journeymen, always on the road. Others work and rework the same ground, eventually becoming identified with the places they inhabit. In this second category you often find journalists and novelists who take their inspiration from huge and fascinating cities, urban ecosystems with enough tragedy, comedy, and
Our Heroes Have Always Been CowgirlsWhat fun to find my great-great-aunt Ben in my favorite magazine [“Cowgirl Up,” August 2011]. That string of names listed for her was also a laugh. My grandmother Harbison always said her aunt had changed her name, as she did not like the one
The roots of Rick Perry’s frontier style.
Kushi Yama and El Alma.
HOW PAINFUL MUST IT BE for a restaurant’s owners to admit that the place is kaput? That a once celebrated destination has come to the end of the road and needs to be—gasp—put down? But after cozy Austin restaurant Zoot departed the neighborhood where it had been for eighteen
What does a rash of new reality TV tell us about the Metroplex?
In Donna M. Johnson's memoir of a Pentecostal childhood, religious zeal and illicit love nearly tear a family apart.
A new album by Jason Boland & the Stragglers.
The seventies band of brothers from Victoria on getting into music, staying away from drugs and liquor, and releasing their first album.
A new album by the Gourds.
This sports-crazed Dallas suburb may be one of the fastest-growing places in the country, but you can still find signs of its cattle-driving past.
The chef shows us a glimpse of his life outside the kitchen.
This blistering summer has left Texas drier than a piece of gas station jerky. It was so hot that planes couldn’t take off from airports and train tracks were bent out of shape. And while Governor Rick Perry prayed for a downpour to end the drought, officials in Llano turned
