Monday's federal court-dictated deadline for compromise on redrawn Congressional maps has come and gone with no agreement in sight. Among those still treading water is state Senator Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, who must be seriously questioning the power of prayer right now. more ›

Everyone’s favorite perennial Republican dark horse, Ron Paul, may have made some odd friends on the road to marginal relevance. more ›

Susan G. Komen for the Cure argues that the reason for cutting ties with Planned Parenthood is in response to a new rule that does not allow them to provide grants to associations under investigation... If this is true, then when will Komen part ways with Bank of America? more ›

Republicans controlling the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment ordered the arrest this morning of Academy Award-nominated director Josh Fox who was attempting to film a public hearing on natural gas fracturing techniques, or "Fracking" as the practice has come to be known. more ›

Abortion opponents marked the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade this past Saturday with a march on the Capitol. Many of the attendees had something to celebrate: namely, the recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Texas’ controversial mandatory sonogram law must be enforced even as it continues to be appealed. more ›

It was 83 years ago yesterday when Martin Luther King, Jr. was born into a nation where simply his skin color alone was enough to designate him a second class citizen and prevent him and his family from enjoying such basic human dignities as living, eating, or travelling where they want, or voting for elected representatives without encumbrance or limitation. It can be difficult sometimes for modern Americans who weren't born or didn't live during the civil rights era to comprehend the gross inequalities and devastating economic and social racism that was encoded into our very laws throughout America just 50 years ago. more ›

The Rick Perry campaign may be running on fumes at the moment, but at least he's still got his sense of humor. more ›

A reporting error may mean that Rick Santorum, not Mitt Romney, topped the Iowa caucuses. But will it matter? more ›

The Republican Establishment has desperately tried to wrap up the nominating process as quickly as possible with the least amount of damage to their anointed candidate heading into the general election. But that's not going to happen now. more ›

Just because you can continue a political campaign, does that mean you should? Here are several reasons why Rick Perry probably should end his run for the Republican presidential nomination--and a few reasons why he's not going to. more ›

Oh, what a year 2011 has been. Birth certificates, Congressional gridlock, Occupy, and Herman Cain, oh my! Austinist political writer Greg Haley busts out his crystal ball for a prognosticatory look at 2012. more ›

Does Mitt Romney really want to be President? We wonder. more ›

Political observers eagerly awaiting a Democratic face-off between Texas liberal lion Lloyd Doggett and his challenger State Rep. Joaquin Castro can put their popcorn down. more ›

Sick pleasure alert! Those goony GOPers are at it again, and Austinist is in the thick of it with a enough snark to choke…well…an elephant. This time around, we're camped out on the back patio at The Dog and Duck Pub, so if you wanna come out and pound a few pints, we'd be happy to see ya.
The fun starts at 6:30PM. If you make it out to the D'n'D, just look for our laptops and hunker down. The secret password is "GINGRICH/PAUL 2012!!!"
more ›

UT student and College Republican representative Lauren Pierce's 129 characters on assassinating (or not assassinating) the president literally traveled around the world before coming home to roost. more ›

On Tuesday, a three judge panel of the Federal Court in Washington ruled that Texas Republican lawmakers used an "improper standard" in determining how the electoral map in Texas will be drawn for the 2012 election cycle. more ›

The day began like every other day. The dawn rose and with it Rick Perry. He woke up, kicked off his down comforter and un-rolled the curls from his hair. But as he sat at his vanity, brushing his hair and thinking of breakfast, he caught a chill, a chill he wasn't able to shake. It was like someone walked across his grave. more ›

At last night's Republican debate, our governor attempted to tell the world something big about his philosophy, something so critical to his economic policy, he had distilled it down to three points. These three points, he seemed eager to share, were pieces of the U.S. government that would be eliminated when he took office. "I will tell you: It's three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone: Commerce, Education and the -- what's the third one there? Let's see. ... OK. So Commerce, Education and the -- ... The third agency of government I would -- I would do away with the Education, the ... Commerce and -- let's see -- I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops." more ›

Hey, didja hear the one about the Texas state legislator who let slip an ethnic slur during a legislative hearing on insurance? more ›

Psst! Today is Election Day. Yeah, that's right — as if you didn’t already have enough to do on a Tuesday, now you’ve got to vote. The Austinist understands your pain and confusion, so we've broken down today's Texas Constitutional Amendments Vote into a neat little guide. You're welcome. more ›

After recent stumbles, fumbles, gaffes, and just plain weirdness, it's safe to wonder whether the wheels have finally come off the Rick Perry presidential express. If so, whither the governor? more ›

By now you've seen clips from Governor Perry's 25 minute talk with New Hampshire residents over the weekend, and this mashup features the most entertaining 8 minutes of that afternoon. Sure, he looks a little googly-eyed at times, but isn't this more fun than stuttering robot Rick we've gotten to know in the debates? As John Stewart said on the Daily Show last night, he's either hammered here, or every other time we've seen him he's been hammered, and this is Rick Perry sober as the day he was born. But hey, no sexual harassment so far, right? Right! more ›

The Obama 2012 campaign feels like it's been given an early Christmas present by the Rick Perry campaign that any politician would love. When Perry announced his candidacy for President in August, he was catapulted into the lead and stayed there for almost two months. That allowed him to raise large donations from both big-money donors and small dollar contributors across the country. Now with $15 million on hand and virtually no chance for the nomination, his campaign can only benefit Obama. more ›

For many folks, one of Rick Perry's greatest successes as governor was attempting to create mandatory HPV vaccinations for school-aged girls. 'Cancer's the worst!' the action seemed to shout. And, because most people agree, everyone nodded and Texas was on its way to eradicating some forms of cervical cancer and everything was great. But then some people claimed that mandating HPV vaccines was unconstitutional or anti-American or whatever and Perry conceded and decided to take the mandatory HPV thing off the table until something constitutional and fully American or whatever could be figured out. more ›

Perry managed to stay awake through this, so that's a plus, but at the same time, it's all "You're a liar." "No, you're a liar." "You can't talk." "No, you can't talk." "Anderson, please help me!" But he actually did say, "I'm running for office ... I can't hire illegals." Because guess what, if you aren't running, who cares? more ›

It's that time again, Austin! At 7pm Central this evening, Austinist's venerable Politics section will continue its relentless flogging of the Republican presidential candidates as they convene once again for a "debate". We reserve the right to use the term loosely. more ›