July 17 -- SD-25, Campaign Finance Reports

In 20o6 JOHN COURAGE ran a, well, courageous campaign against Republican congressman Lamar Smith, who's represented his custom-gerrymandered district since the Civil War. After his loss, Courage founded the True Courage Action Network to encourage political and legislative activism.

John Courage is out guest today, announcing his run for state senator against incumbent Jeff Wentworth. Wentworth represents SD-25, which runs from San Antonio to South Austin. Courage will make his case for the race.

Also, longtime Capitol reporter PEGGY FIKAC, who writes for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, will visit with us about the campaign finance reports that came out this week and the SD-25 race.

TEXAS POLITICS TODAY airs every Friday from 2-3 pm Central on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. Tune in at 91.7 FM or over the Web at http://www.koop.org/.

The Sharpest Tool in the Box

In 1998, John Sharp -- Comptroller and former Railroad Commissioner, Senator and House member -- narrowly lost to Rick Perry in a very close Lieutenant Governor's race. Sharp ran for Lieutenant Governor again, in 2002, and lost to multimillionaire David Dewhurst (whose tenure as Lieutenant Governor has been less than stellar).

Sharp is running again, this time for the U.S. Senate seat likely to be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. Sharp is our guest today on Texas Politics Today. We also interview some Texans old and new about what Independence Day means to them.

Texas Politics Today airs every Friday from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Central time on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. KOOP can be heard at 91.7 FM in Austin and live over the Web at http://www.koop.org/. Tune in, and have a Happy Independence Day!!

Kick-Off Episode In New Time Slot

This week, Texas Politics Today expands to a new day and time -- Fridays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Central time. Join us in our new time slot as we bring you more information, insight and inspiration on Texas state and local politics.

And what a week to kick it off! We had an historic election this week, elevating Senator Barack Obama as our nation's first African-American President. Here in Texas, Democrats gained one, and perhaps two, seats in the Senate and gained three seats in the Texas House. An election contest pending in Irving may yield another seat for the Democrats, creating a 75-75 partisan tie in the House. The changes have already triggered a challenge to Speaker Tom Craddick's hold on that office.

This week on Texas Politics Today, we unpack the elections and talk about the implications for America and for Texas. First, pollster Jeff Smith of Opinion Analysts discusses what the national and state turnout numbers tell us. Then, a distinguished panel of political practitioners and observers discuss the presidential campaign:

• Jeff Eller, President and CEO of Public Strategies and former Media Affairs Director in the Clinton White House;
• David Beckwith, Communications Director for U.S. Senator John Cornyn and former communications director for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst; and
• Ross Ramsey, editor and publisher of Texas Weekly, a widely-read and much-respected political newsletter.

KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM and can be heard streaming live over the Web at http://www.koop.org/. Texas Politics Today is hosted by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein and Austin community activist (and Austin Chronicle "Best of Austin 2008" winner as "Best Radio Talk/News Host") David Kobierowski. Visit our website at http://www.texaspoliticstoday.net/.

Election Throwdown: This Week on TPT

With less than a week to go, we take one last look at key Central Texas races for the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature. Plus, we look at the 8-day campaign finance reports and the early voting totals and make some predictions about next Tuesday's elections.

Listen in to this important show. More importantly, GO VOTE!! For more information, including early voting and Election Day locations and times, check out the Voters Tool Kit!

Texas Politics Today airs on Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM and can be heard streaming live over the Wev at http://www.koop.org/. Texas Politics Today is hosted by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein and Austin community activist (and "Best of Austin 2008" winner as "Best Radio Talk/News Host") David Kobierowski. Visit our websites at http://www.texaspoliticstoday.net/ or http://texaspoliticstoday.blogspot.com/.

SCHEDULING NOTE: Beginning next week, Texas Politics Today expands to one hour and moves to Friday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. Central Time. Join us next Friday for an election post-mortem conducted by former White House Director of Media Affairs Jeff Eller, Senator John Cornyn's communications director David Beckwith, and Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

Thanks for your past support of the show and we hope you'll tune in once we move to Fridays!

This Week: Representative Valinda Bolton

This week on Texas Politics Today: Representative Valinda Bolton, Democratic candidate for State Representative in House District 47. HD-47 covers much of southern and southwestern Travis County. Bolton has been the State Representative since she won a close race in 2006. We'll ask her about her accomplishments during her first term and invite her to make her case for re-election.

Ms. Bolton's opponent, Donna Keel, has declined multiple requests to appear on the show.

Representative Bolton's campaign website is here. Ms. Keel's is here.

Texas Politics Today airs on Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM and can be heard streaming live over the Web at http://www.koop.org/. Texas Politics Today is hosted by longtime Capitol insider Deece Eckstein and Austin community activist (and "Best of Austin 2008" winner as "Best Radio Talk/News Host") David Kobierowski. Visit our websites at http://www.texaspoliticstoday.net/ or http://texaspoliticstoday.blogspot.com/.

EXCITING NEWS!: Beginning the week of November 2, Texas Politics Today expands to one hour and moves to Friday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. Central Time. Thanks for your past support of the show and we hope you'll tune in once we move to Fridays!

Rick Noriega on TPT

This week on Texas Politics Today: our exclusive interview with U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega, discussing his military service in Afghanistan, the Wall Street bailout bill, and his scrappy campaign against John Cornyn. The program airs Wednesday, October 15, from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time on KOOP, Austin’s community radio station. KOOP is at 91.7 FM and streams live over the Internet at http://www.koop.org/.

For more information about the Noriega campaign, you can go to www.RickNoriega.com. For information about Senator John Cornyn, go to his website at www.JohnCornyn.com. For more information on Libertarian candidate Yvonne Schick, go to www.YvonneforSenate.com.

Next week: our exclusive interview with State Representative Valinda Bolton, talking about her first session in the Legislature and her plans for her second session. Wednesday, October 22, 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.

30-Day Campaign Finance Reports

Political campaigns are about great ideas and contests of character -- but they are also about money, money, money, and today on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we're "following the money."

Texas law requires that all candidate for state office file campaign finance reports covering the period up until 30 days before an election. Known as "30-day out" reports, these give an idea of who's raising money and how they're spending it.

Our guests this week are two Capitol insiders and shrewd observers of Texas politics:

• Will Lutz is the Managing Editor of the Lone Star Report, weekly newsletter devoted exclusively to coverage of Texas politics and government, largely from a conservative viewpoint. The Lone Star Report has been published since 1996, and its readership includes all of Texas' statewide elected officials and thousands of ordinary people with an interest in Capitol news beyond what their local newspapers provide.
• Matt Glazer is the Editor-in-Chief of the Burnt Orange Report, a widely-read blog covering Texas politics from a progressive perspective. Burnt Orange Report has been online since 2003 and had over 7,000,000 page views.

TEXAS POLITICS TODAY airs every Wednesday from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. KOOP is at 91.7 on the FM dial and streams live over the Internet at www.koop.org.

Today on TPT: Fall Election Preview

TEXAS POLITICS TODAY is your weekly source for information, insight and inspiration about Texas state and local politics. As we enter the last five weeks of the most interesting campaign season in a generation, we’re looking at the most important and interesting contests on the ballot.

Our guest today is Karen Brooks from the Dallas Morning News. Karen has been with the DMN almost five years, and before that was with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s been covering the Texas Legislature for over a decade, with a focus on key House and Senate races. Join us for a lively analysis.

Also, this week we’re back in KOOP’s studios on Airport Boulevard. As everyone knows, KOOP suffered a fire at its new studios in January of this year. Thanks to a huge effort from our dedicated volunteers, we are back in our home studios only eight months after the disaster. Many thanks also to the wonderful people at Entercom Communications and its Austin radio stations, who hosted us during our exile.

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.

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.

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.

This Week on TPT: Democrats Meeting In Denver

The Democratic National Convention is being held this week in Denver, Colorado. America will cross an historic threshold as Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African American to be nominated for President by a major political party. Obama has also announced his vice-presidential choice, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we'll talk about the convention and preview Wednesday evening's speech by Joe Biden and Thursday evening's acceptance speech by Barack Obama. Joining us with c-in reports from Denver will be two well-respected political analysts and friends of the show:

• Matt Glazer is rhe Editor-in-Chief of the Burnt Orange Report, a widely-read blog covering Democratic politics in Texas.
• Gardner Selby is the chief political writer and columnist for the Austin American-Statesman.
  

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.

Americans: Keep Religion, Politics Separate

A new study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows significant changes in how Americans view the relationship between personal religious faith and political behavior. In the wake of the Saddleback Church forum on faith held last Friday with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, this study shows a much different message environment for candidates and interest groups wanting to use hot-button religious issues to motivate voters.

From the report:

A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans had voiced support for religious institutions speaking out on such issues.

As you can see from the graph, the lines have crossed since 2004, when Karl Rove and the GOP deliberately placed initiatives to ban gay marriage on the general election ballot as a way to energize social conservative voters.

The report goes on to note that

most of the reconsideration of the desirability of religious involvement in politics has occurred among conservatives. ... As a result, conservatives' views on this issue are much more in line with the views of moderates and liberals than was previously the case. Similarly, the sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats that previously existed on this issue have disappeared.

Another chart shows this evolution in stark terms:


Among those who think that gay marriage is a very important issue, the percentage of people who favor greater separation between religion and politics has increased 25%! Among those who think abortion is a very important issues, the percentage of people who favor greater separation between religion and politics has increased 16%! These are significant shifts in opinion among social conservatives. There could be several reasons for this.

• First, on the issue of gay marriage, the war is over (for now). The self-righteous, er, social conservatives have won. The steam has gone out of arguments from James Dobson, Tony Perkins, et al., that the threat of gay marriage was the end of American civilization.
• Second, other issues like the sagging economy, inflated gas prices, and the war in Iraq have supplanted hot-button social issues as concerns for Americans.
• Third -- and I think this is most important -- people of faith who thought their religious values were best expressed in issues like abortion and gay marriage have watched the cavacade of corruption, venality, heartlessness and incompetence that characterizes the modern Republican Party and realized they'd been had -- that party leaders like George Bush, Dick Cheney and Tom DeLay cynically manipulated their heartfelt faith to advance a vicious, amoral agenda, all the while laughing behind their back.

In any case, the study shows that a shifting political landscape for social conservatives and the politicians who would exploit them. To be sure, the culture wars are not over, but this election season may pass without them being a central focus of the campaigns.

Last week, U.T. politics guru Jim Henson joined us to review the Texas Lyceum Poll 2008 just released last month. Among other things, the poll asked over 1,000 Texas respondents to identify what they thought were the top issues facing the nation and the state. Here they are:

MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL ISSUES:
Economy 33%
Gas Prices/Energy 20%
Iraq War 14%
Leadership/Gridlock/Corruption 6%
Security 4%
Immigration 4%
Health Care 4%
Morality 3%

MOST IMPORTANT STATE ISSUES
Gas Prices/Energy 21%
Immigration 20%
Economy 17%
Education 12%
Leadership/Gridlock/Corruption 7%
Health Care 4%
Roads/Traffic 4%
Environment 2%
Taxes/Property Taxes 2%

Dr. Henson discussed these important results with us last week. This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, we’re taking issue Numero Uno at the state level — gas prices and energy — and comparing the two presidential candidates, presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain and presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama, and comparing their positions on short-, medium-, and long-term solutions to America’s over-dependence on foreign sources of energy.

The show airs every Wednesday from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT on KOOP, Austin’s community radio station. KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM in Austin and also streams live over the Internet at www.koop.org. Tune in for this interesting presentation!

For more information, you can check out Senator McCain’s energy platform here and Senator Obama’s energy plan here.

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.

Today on TPT: What's On Your Mind?

This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY we'll be paraphrasing Sigmund Freud's famous question and asking, "What do Texans want?" Our topics is, "What is on Texans' minds as we go into the election season?" Our guest will be Jim Henson, Director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the recent poll released by the Texas Lyceum at the end of June. You can read more about the poll here.

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.

Harvey Kronberg On TPT Today

Quorum Report owner and editor Harvey Kronberg will preview the fall election season and handicap the most interesting races on today’s episode of TEXAS POLITICS TODAY. The show airs every week from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT on KOOP, Austin’s community radio station. KOOP broadcasts at 91.7 FM in Austin and also streams live over the Internet at www.koop.org.

The Quorum Report is a non-partisan newsletter focusing on Texas politics and government. Founded in 1983, QR is Texas’ oldest political newsletter. Published online most days, the newsletter combines fast breaking news along with institutional memory and a healthy skepticism as befits a publication whose subscribers include most of Texas elected officials, most of the lobby as well as most law firms with a legislative practice.

Harvey Kronberg has been covering Texas politics since 1989. He also serves as political commentator for News 8 Austin — a 24 hour news channel serving central Texas. He has been cited in publications as diverse as The Congressional Quarterly, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor and more.

M-O-N-E-Y, The Mother's Milk of Politics

Political campaigns are battles of personality and ideas, yes, but they are also big business. In just the primary season alone, all the candidates raised over a billion dollars. Barack Obama led the pack by far, having raised over $339 million and spent over $267 million. Although the levels are smaller when it comes to statewide and local races, there is no doubt that money plays a critical role in the ability of a campaign to function effectively.

This week on Texas Politics Today, we’re taking the advice of Deep Throat and “following the money.” We’ll look at campaign finance reports for the first six months of the year — submitted July 15 — and give an overview of who’s got the scratch and who’s scratching around.

Texas Politics Today airs every week from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT on KOOP radio, located at 91.7 on the FM dial. KOOP also streams live at http://www.koop.org/