Former presidential candidates Howard Dean and Gen. Wesley Clark may have brought the most name recognition to Thursday's lineup at Netroots Nation, but it was Obama Girl who captured the gathering's heart....

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned.......

Came across this surprising frame among the discards from the shoot and had to post it. We'd title it: "Howard Dean has an offer you can't refuse."......

Generally, people don’t think “Democrat” when they think about Texas. It wasn’t always like that, though. The Lone Star State was decidedly “blue” for over a hundred years before the Republicans swept in during the last decade. As a consequence, the Democratic Party, trying to allocate resources wisely, doesn’t generally send a lot of clout or cash our way. The times they are a-changin', though. Howard Dean, head of the Democratic Party, came down......

TUESDAY [26] political-rockstars • Howard Dean speaks at Scholz Garden (5pm-6:30pm, $50/$20) pol/booze • "Drinking Liberally" weekly meetup for liberal and progressives at Dog & Duck Pub (6:30pm) books • Drew Banks presents Able Was I at BookPeople (7pm) music • The Queers, Hard Ons, Toys That Kill, Signal Lost at Emo's music • "Cool Brittania," By Wayne (Calla) and ex-Yuppie Pricks -- Brit Pop, Rock, Punk, Psych, Metal, and Prog from 60s-90s at......

Democratic National Committee Chairman and former presidential hopeful Howard Dean will be in Austin tomorrow night to meet with the faithful to discuss the DNC’s plan for victory. Amid growing concerns among some Democrats that the party is “confused” or becoming the party of “reaction,” Dean will try and provide some cohesion six weeks before the mid-term elections and raise some money for the DNC. To RSVP and contribute, or for more information, click here.......

We caught up with Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman recently to discuss the upcoming election and why he wants primary voters to save themselves for him. As you would imagine, Kinky did most of the talking. We found him to be thoughtful, engaging and funny. What follows are highlights of that interview for which we used Kinky’s song titles as subject headers.* *The first reader to email us with the names of the three......

:: FRIDAY :: [art] Art Party, 7pm @ 708 Congress Avenue :: SATURDAY :: [politics] DemocracyFest 2005 with Howard Dean and Neal Pollack, 7:30pm @ Stubb's - $20 [sports] Longhorns play the College World Series, 6pm on ESPN [art] Summer Fashion Party, 8pm @ Art Studio Studios [music] The Teenage Pajamas From Outer Space Tour featuring The Aquabats and The Epoxies @ The Backroom - $12 [culture] Pop Nation! @ The Austin Convention Center......

Yep that’s right, Austin. Howard Dean is coming to Stubb’s, because "The People’s Republic of Austin"* is hosting DemocracyFest 2005. Leave it to Austin to make a festival out of politics. It’s bound to be interesting, though. Registration for the forums is sold out, but you can still buy your ticket for the Saturday, June 18th event at Stubb’s for $20. We’ll be at the rest of the festival, keeping you posted! * We’ve......