Unlike past primaries where the Presidential nominees were already decided by the time we voted, Texas' votes are quite significant this year. After the polls close this evening, the party's not over; it's precinct convention time! This whole caucus thing is new to us, so we thought it was worth posting a refresher....

Clinton campaign seeks to control local caucus sessions? According to a Dallas Morning News blog, recent training materials distributed by the Clinton campaign read, "DO NOT allow the supporter of another candidate to serve in leadership roles... If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness." Mike Huckabee's latest outreach video reworks "Mr Sandman" Calling "Rangers," Huckabee's supporters are urged......

Photo from the Austin History Center archives Since so many of you wrote in asking about places to watch the Democratic Presidential Debate, we went ahead and called around town. Below are your best options if you missed out on the Alamo's watch parties or the Texas Democrats' party—both are now sold out. We still recommend calling ahead to make sure the folks below haven't changed their minds, and feel free to share any that......

It shouldn’t take more than 350 words to explain why I intended to vote Ron Paul for President, and roughly two words to explain why there’s now no chance in hell....

This weekend, while many of our friends are shaking their fists across town at the Fun Fun Fun Fest, the bookworms among us will climb the Capitol steps to get our “shhh!” on at the Texas Book Festival. We’ve waited all year for this, the biggest literary event in Austin. All the great local writers will be on hand, along with a smattering of nationally recognized authors. For anyone looking for a thorough introduction to......

Unfortunately for the frogs, Japanese scientists have made them transparent. Transcript: What Clinton actually said about 24-Bauer-style torture. Every upcoming VW model is scheduled to have a hybrid option, with some models hybrid-ready as early as next year. By raising tons of money from his dedicated supporters, Ron Paul becomes harder for Republicans to ignore. There is a new world record for ear lifting, folks. It's exactly what you think it is. Well, mostly.......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. Bostonist got a crash course in what not......

Police in Maryland unearthed the bodies of at least three aborted infants One of Michael Vick's cohorts gives up, pleads guilty to dogfighting conspiracy charges R&B performer Usher gets cold feet, breaks off wedding with his pregnant fiance The one thing that scares Republicans more than sunlight, garlic cloves, and holy water? YouTube. A Houston-based auto shop may have plans to bring back the DeLorean......

Last week, Senate Bill 1317 passed the Senate in a highly partisan vote thanks in large part to lobbying efforts by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. The bill itself, if made law, would limit the scope of a city's jurisdiction by making it illegal for any city to regulate air pollution (or, presumably, anything else) beyond its borders. However, despite what many Senators who voted for this bill will tell you, this bill isn't about municipal......

Movie critics, quilters, environmentalists, these types. The blog landscape is packed with these niche bloggers. Well, you can add former exterminators cum failed politicians with dubious pasts to the long list of those on the internets. Former US Representative Tom DeLay has started a blog. Glory be! Finally the voice of reason comes to Al Gore’s invention. [excerpted TomDelay.com]Over the course of my political life I have learned many things, one of which is that......

Ever wonder where all of that campaign money comes form each year? Who’s really running this state/country/etc? Well, to find out who’s got some of those most pull among politicians, you have to look no further than Texas’ own Bob Perry. The Houston homebuilder gave more money to candidates in the last election cycle than any other individual, according to a report issued by Texans for Public Justice. The non-profit group, which believes campaign......

The war in Iraq is an unqualified mess, confidence in elected officials seems to be at a low and Republican leaders are scrambling trying to get some cover. Enter John Kerry. The former presidential candidate made a “botched joke” (his words, not ours) involving college students, the Iraqi quagmire and George Bush, and Republicans are taking the opportunity to turn the tables on the Democrats in hopes of generating some traction before next week’s mid-term......

Halloween is Tuesday, which means this weekend is really the time for all of the –ists to celebrate. And whether they’re designing super-spooky costumes or talking about the super-spooky upcoming elections, we’d say that they’re doing a fine job of it. Austinist knows that few things in life are scarier than zombies, people with way too much money, and politicians who try too hard to be funny. Slightly less scary, depending on whom you......

Chris Bell recently received a $5 million donation commitment from Houston lawyer John O'Quinn. That oughta help. But what Bell knows would really help would be for Independent Kinky Friedman to bow out of the race, freeing up thousands of votes for the Democratic candidate. And he called the Jewish Cowboy yesterday to ask him to do just that. We imagine there are quite a few folks voting for Kinky who would normally vote......

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......

Attempting to understand what makes middle-America tick - what motivates their purchasing and voting decisions, as well as how everyday Americans form their political and consumer allegiances - former political consultants Douglas Sosnik (Clinton administration) and Matthew Dowd (Bush administration) teamed up with former AP political reporter Ron Fournier to pen Applebee’s America. The bi-partisan trio set out to uncover what factors influenced major socio-political phenomena over the past 15 years. How did Bill Clinton......

Big Brother really will be watching soon enough. In one of the more disgusting turn of Pentagon-related paranoia events, the Department of Defense (under the auspice of the US command in Baghdad) announced yesterday that it will be putting out a contract on the media. Well, to be more precise, it will be spending $20 million to hire a public relations firm to monitor the media's coverage on the quagmire in Iraq. The AP reports......

An anti-tax group called Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes ("CLOUT") has filed suit against state lawmakers alleging illegal spending of our tax dollars over the last 28 years. According to CLOUT, lawmakers use inflated budget numbers to overspend and this leads to Texans being overtaxed. Democratic goober nominee Chris Bell has reported that his campaign received a donation of $100,000 from Houston oilman A. Earl Swift. According to the Texas Ethics Commission for the......

Austin is getting a new public Art Installation. Today at 11am, Mayor Will Wynn and Gibson Guitars will be part of a ceremony kicking-off the project in front of City Hall. Austin GuitarTown is going to feature guitars scattered around the city, placed in front of landmarks and significant businesses, that are painted by local musicians and artisans. NASA is planning to bomb the moon in order to study dust particles that come from......

Rep. Tom DeLay is apparently pulling out of the race for re-election to his House seat. CNN has reported that, just minutes ago, DeLay completed a conference call with the Texas delegation to the House, announcing his plans. In order to field a Republican candidate for the general election, there will be a special election for DeLay's place on the ballot. The Mayor of Sugarland is expected to be one of the candidates running.......

We’ve always thought that right-wing allodoxaphobes Republicans’ lust for cash trumped their disdain for minorities the gay community women progressives the poor sick children cute little puppies those of us with souls, and the organizations/events that appeal to or involve said demographic. As it turns out, we were wrong. Last week we brought you breaking news that Howard Wolf, citizen advisor of the Sunset Advisory Commission (the body that periodically reviews Texas state agencies)......

So it's a primary and you have no clue who's running. Do what we did; go to the League of Women Voters Austin Area site and get their Voter's Guide. We'll even go one step further because we love our readers: here's a direct link to the guide (.pdf). If you care about endorsements, here you go:Austin Chronicle's picks (include Chris Bell for Gov and Charlie Baird for district judge) Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus......

Opponents to the Texas redistricting plan told the U.S. Supreme Court the map was blatantly political and that it disenfranchised minority voters. In the election that followed the redrawing, the Texas delegation went from 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans to 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Based on what the court rules, the current congressional districts could be upheld or several districts could be removed. We should point out that the removal of these districts......

The Democratic attorneys challenging the legality of Texas' recently-redrawn congressional districts filed a reply brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. The brief states that Texas violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by enacting a redistricting law solely to benefit one political party at the expense of another. This brief counters state arguments that say the map was done fairly and with consideration to both political parties. Arguments are set to begin in one......

Kinky is becoming a bit of a national phenomenon these days, and that status will only get amplified after tonight, when "Go Kinky" airs on Country Music Television. The reality-show follows Kinky around as he campaigns to take back Texas for the people, taking the governorship from the Crips and the Bloods, as he calls the Democrats and Republicans. We sat down with Kinky at his home Monday night to discuss his thoughts on......

Marijuana is a serious cash crop in Washington state, ranking as the state'ss 8th most economically-viable agricultural commodity. And you thought people in Austin liked weed. Hundreds feared dead in Phillipines following massive landslide. Senate Republicans block Democrats' attempts to formally investigate Big Brother's Bush's illegal wire tapping operation. Iraqi Interior Ministry may be operating a death squad. That joke about ocean-front property in Arizona may be true sooner than we thought: Greenland's glaciers......

The Republicans aren't the only lying liars in town. And while that is not news to us, we were still a little shocked to hear the news about longtime Democratic political aide Kristi Willis and her "liberation" of $166,000 from Congressman Lloyd Doggett's coffers, along with more than $25,000 from other Democratic candidates and causes. Maybe she was saving up to buy a new condo in the swank new high-rise at Third and Nueces.......

According to the Dallas Voice (by way of Burnt Orange), Austinite Edward Mokrzy - a gay Republican formerly living in Dallas - was promised support by the Republican Party in the upcoming primaries for the House of Representatives. Oddly enough, the National Republican Congressional Committee reneged on its pledge to cover his filing costs after Mokrzy announced his intention to run as an openly gay candidate and on a "government reform" platform. Color us......

In the race to represent House District 48, Democrat Donna Howard and Republican Ben Bentzin made it through Round One on Tuesday and will meet in a runoff election to see who will replace Todd Baxter in the Texas House. Democrat Kathy Rider and Libertarian Ben Easton finished third and fourth and are now free to vote for Donna Howard. She received 49.5% of the vote, against Bentzin's 37.8 % which might shock some......

We told you last week about good ol' W. authorizing the NSA to spy on people inside the country without first getting warrants from a court. Well, fortunately, the bozos in Washington are not going to let the Prez get off with just a smirk, a shoulder shrug and a sarcastic comment (well, as sarcastic a comment as can be conjured by a moron). Democrats and Republicans in Congress are seeking a bi-partisan investigation......