Vote, Vote, Vote!!!

Voting is the most fundamental privilege we enjoy as Americans. As we approach the most important presidential election in a generation, TEXAS POLITICS TODAY takes us back to Square One: registering to vote. You can’t vote if you’re not registered, and the deadline for registering for this election is fast approaching — Monday, October 6.

Our guest this week is NELDA WELLS SPEARS, the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and voter registrar. She’ll explain how easy it is to register and describe the various ways the county is making it even simpler. Also, we’ll hear from Dave G, a Houston-area musician and activist who’s using music and new media to get more young people to register to vote through his site, http://www.texasstandup.com/.

TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is the weekly radio show devoted to Texas state and local politics. TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is produced by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein, who shares hosting duties with Austin community leader David Kobierowski.

KOOP, “the little station that could,” is Austin’s only community-owned radio station. It shares the FM 91.7 radio frequency with KVRX, the University of Texas student radio. It also streams live over the Web at http://www.koop.org/. KOOP is on the air on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Archival photo of suffragists from Travis County registering to vote in 1918. Photo Credit: State Archives and Library Commission.

Central Texas House Races: Fall Election Preview

With the national political conventions out of the way, the fall election season is officially OPEN! This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we're visiting with Ross Ramsey, the editor of the online political newsletter Texas Weekly. Ross has been covering Texas politics for over a quarter century and has built Texas Weekly into a must-read source of political intelligence and analysis. We'll preview the central Texas races for the Texas House of Representatives, including exciting races in southwest Austin, Williamson County and out past Bastrop.

TEXAS POLITICS TODAY airs on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m CDT on KOOP, 91.7 on the FM dial and streaming live over the Web at www.koop.org. TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is hosted by veteran Texas and Austin political insiders Deece Eckstein and David Kobierowski. Tune in and get the best and brightest insights into the ever-shifting universe of Texas politics!

This Week on TPT: Republicans Rendezvous in St. Paul

Last week, the Democrats met in Denver. On Thursday night, Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech, wowing a crowd of 85,000 at Mile High Stadium and earning plaudits from the national media.

Friday, John McCain stole Obama's thunder with his surprise pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Although the Republican convention schedule was cut short on Monday due to concerns about Hurricane Gustav, conventioneers seemed enthusiastic about McCain's unconventional pick.

This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we'll discuss the Palin pick and the Republican National Convention, being held as we speak in St. Paul, Minnesota. Adding insight and color commentary will be two respected journalists checking in from Minnesota:

• Gardner Selby is the chief political writer and columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. He has covered Texas politics for over 20 years.
• Paul Burka is the Senior Executive Editor of Texas Monthly, its chief political writer, and the author of the popular BurkaBlog. He has been writing about Texas politics for over 30 years.

As always, TEXAS POLITICS TODAY airs from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT on Wednesdays and is the weekly radio show devoted to Texas state and local politics. TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is produced by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein, who shares hosting duties with Austin community leader David Kobierowski.