Senate Republican Hopefuls Debate In Austin

Image of Tom Leppert from Tom Leppert

It's that frisky season when politicians of the same stripe nonetheless go neck to neck with their sometimes-allies to differentiate themselves while ripping their brothers-in-arms a new one. In the presidential primary, the corn belt has been shaken with a barrage of negative ads from Republican party hopefuls - Mitt Romney (who isn't taking responsibility for said ads) blasts Newt Gingrich, and now Newt's associates are blasting back.

It's all very exciting, but even with two Texas dogs in the hunt it feels very removed. The good news is that a debate is headed not just to Texas, but to Austin - and though it probably won't have the vim and vigor of the Perry Vs. Perry debates we've seen, at least this one doesn't take place in Iowa.

So who is coming together to tear one another apart? Glenn Addison, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, Craig James and Tom Leppert, all of whom are Republican candidates for U.S. Senate. Longstanding Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is not running for reelection, meaning we'll soon have some new, if not necessarily fresh, blood in those hallowed halls.

And just who are these gentlemen? Fun facts: Leppert is Dallas' former mayor, Addison owns two funeral homes, Cruz was the Solicitor General of Texas for five years and fought for "The constitutionality of the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance," James is a former professional football player with no political experience, and Dewhurst is our Lieutenant Governor and was, in older political ads, inevitably riding around on a horse and talking about conservative values (though not necessarily at the same time).

The auspicious setting for tonight's debate will be The Hilton downtown. The event is sponsored by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a "non-partisan research institute" that nonetheless promotes a pretty strong conservative viewpoint with, for example, articles like "America's Job Creators vs. the Federal Government: The War Continues."

Jason Embry of the Statesman, Brad Watson of WFAA in Dallas and Pedro Rojas of Univision will all serve as moderators. It will be shown on a livestream here at 7pm.