Last night Texas finished the first part of its primary process and answered the question of whether Gov. Rick Perry would be facing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in a run-off. The biggest factor in that equation was how much effect Debra Medina would have on the race. Well, Texas Republicans (and a few Democrats) answered that question for us. With 51% of the vote Perry dodged a run-off and now matches up with former Houston Mayor Bill White in November. Personally I have to feel a little pride in that I predicted 53%. 2 points off is not bad in my book. So did we learn a little more about Texas politics after the votes were counted? Read more…
Tomorrow is the election day for the Texas primaries with polling places open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across San Antonio. If you haven’t already voted during Early Voting it is important you take the time to vote at your polling place in your respective primary. If you’re not sure of your polling place you can look it up at the Bexar County Elections website. The San Antonio Express-News usually prints a list of polling places to help out also. However, you’ll need to know your precinct but you can find that out also using the same website. Remember, you don’t need your voter registration card to vote in Texas. You can show up with your TX drivers license to vote. But it’s important you exercise your right to vote so you have a voice in Texas. Read more…
On Tuesday we come into the home stretch of what has been an interesting primary season in Texas. What typically is a sort of anointing of a chosen candidate at least turned into a horse race on the Republican side between Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison, and Debra Medina. Hutchison made it competitive when she hinted at running as far back as mid 2009 that she was serious about running for governor. Starting with a strong war chest and leading in the polls, it seemed like hers to lose. Those turned out to be famous last words. Now with only two days until the primary election she appears to have done a good job of losing it. Read more…
Sunday I examined the Texas governor’s primaries on both the Republican and Democratic side. Based on the latest polls and some very bizarre episodes about 9/11 it is becoming pretty apparent we will have a Rick Perry/Bill White showdown for the general election in November. While Perry is not completely out of the woods just yet and could face a run-off against Kay Bailey Hutchison I really don’t see that happening based on Debra Medina’s meltdown on the Glenn Beck show this past week. But what will happen after the primaries? Who will prevail in November? Read more…
Early voting for the 2010 primaries starts Tuesday, February 16th and runs through Friday, February 26th with the general election Tuesday, March 2nd. While some like to wait to vote on the general election day I always encourage people to take advantage of early voting. First of all, you never know what might happen on election day that would prevent you from voting. By voting during the early voting period you can vote at any of the early voting locations on any day during the period including Saturdays and Sundays. Read more…
We’ve all heard the phrase about Texas weather, “if you don’t like it now, just wait a little bit and it’ll change.” This primary season the same can be said about Texas politics. What usually is a pretty bland part of the Texas election cycle has been anything but this year. Starting with the governor’s race on the Republican side and continuing into the same race on the Democratic side we’ve had nothing but fun during the period leading up to early voting starting this Tuesday, Feb. 16th. So with all the fun how is this primary really shaping out?
It’s that time again for one of my favorite events in San Antonio – UTSA’s Great Conversation. Each year at the end of February hundreds will gather at the Institute of Texan Cultures for a night of good food, fun and most importantly table talk. The event benefits the UTSA Honors College by providing funds for scholarships for current and future students to attend the college. What makes the event so much more entertaining is that you spend about an hour talking about various table topics led by community leaders and experts. Now in its 10th year this event continues to grow as more people are catching on to the fun. It’s also a great place to network and meet new friends. This year’s event is scheduled for February 23rd and tables are filling up fast. If you’ve never enjoyed the experience, I strongly encourage you to spend a night sitting with other San Antonians enjoying a great conversation.
While I was checking my RSS feed today I saw this obituary about a true friend who passed away Christmas Eve from a tramatic fall. Joe Patrick Bean was an editorial writer for the San Antonio Express-News when I first met him. I can’t really recall the year I knew him but in the time I had around him I soaked up so much knowledge and insight on politics and life. In your life only a few people really make the impact to shape your life and Joe Patrick was one of those for me along with Rob Blanchard. It’s hard to put into words the grief I feel knowing a person like Joe Patrick is no longer among us but I can truly say he made a mark. I only wish I had spent time with him at this point in my life.
Today in the NY Times’ Media and Advertising section an article discusses some of the new moves occurring in the media industry around media pay walls. The article starts to delve into the challenges faced by traditional media and some possible solutions. It’s become a hot topic, especially with the efforts by Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. to develop a pay wall system for his various publications. The problem is that Murdoch may be ahead of his time in developing such a system but at least it has started the conversation. Similar efforts have been launched by a consortium that inclules Time Inc., Conde Nast, and several others aimed at building a new delivery model that would leverage technology such as e-readers along with a paid subscription model for content delivery. But the bigger question is would people really pay for digital content? Read more…
This is the second in a series of posts about the 2010 Texas elections that started with a look at the Democrats. In this posting I dig into the Republican side of the Texas gubernatorial ticket which is pitting incumbent Gov. Rick Perry against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and conservative Debra Medina. It’s becoming a battle to see who can claim the title of “most conservative” of the trio and, at times, is becoming a little comical. However, there are serious issues to consider when looking at this field, mostly around a commitment of service to Texans or a desire to grandstand against the Obama administration. Of late, it appears the later goal is more important; something that could backfire in the general election in November. So let’s take a look at the Republicans vying for the governor’s seat. Read more…
As we close out 2009 and get ready to enter the 2010 state election cycle I thought it would be good to provide my readers with my perspective of some of the statewide races starting with the governor’s race, one that will most likely provide fireworks even as far back as the primaries. This will turn into a series of postings covering the various facets of the race – the Democrats, the Republicans, the Primary, the General Election, and the Spoilers. I’d do it in a single entry but each facet is becoming larger than I expected. From there I hope to dig into the rest of the election cycle, looking at down ballot races such as the Lieutenant Governor’s race and other statewide elections. For some that follow politics it will seem repetitive. For those who casually follow the series should provide a good understanding to get up to speed as we enter 2010. I encourage commentary to help expand perspective on each facet. This will make the series that much more engaging. So let’s get started. Read more…
Today I found this video at Mashable produced by Whirled Interactive providing a perspective on 2009 using Google Wave. In case you’re not familiar with the technology the perspective is a “wave” with a series of wavelet conversations. There are a lot of subtle nuances that are Wave specific so all you Wavers should watch for them, especially the RIP section. Regardless it’s just fun to watch. The thing to understand is that the only editing is audio. The Wave was built and replayed as is.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog and a lot of that has to do with a slump in composition. I can honestly say it’s not because of a slump in thoughts. There’s so much swirling around in my mind regarding the governor’s race, the state of the Bexar County Democratic Party, health care reform, and many other topics. The challenge is pulling those together in a blog with so much going on in life. Today I looked at my blog and realized the last item was about State Rep. Mike Villarreal’s thoughts about running for statewide office. Mike’s a good friend so I decided to the delete the item, especially since he decided to run for re-election and remain my state representative. Today I found another blog in the city and it’s given me inspiration. You really should check out TheFBM, a local blog that has a similar slant to mine. I’m looking forward to many good reads from it and it’s contributors. To answer the question about the title, I plan to get back into the blogging mode as I spend time at home with my family. Look for more to come in the coming days.
Yesterday Google announced a lot of new innovations to the public to try out and explore. One that has gotten a lot of press has been the real-time search application. However, one of my favorites is the new Google Goggles application. It’s an application that is only available to those who have an Android phone. Now that ranges from those with the original G1 from HTC to the new Motorola Droid announced by Verizon Wireless. The application is pretty unique in that it leverages Google’s incredible image library and search heuristics to do a visual search. By pairing an image against their image library through some complex algorithms Google is able to provide search results for the image provided. So where does the fun come into play? Read more…
Houston Mayor Bill White did yesterday what everyone expected and announced his candidacy for the Texas governor’s race. Speculation for this has been quietly on everyone’s mind for several months with a few publicly stating. But it took a few events to occur to galvanize the move – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s resignation delay until after the March primaries and Tom Schieffer’s exit of the race and endorsement of White as a candidate. Yesterday before an enthusiastic crowd in Houston Mayor White made it official. You can watch the announcement video here courtesy of the Burnt Orange Report. So what does this really mean to Texas Democrats and does White stand a chance of beating Gov. Rick Perry? Read more…
A look at the politics and civic happenings that make up San Antonio and the world beyond. Of course, this view has somewhat of a moderate to liberal slant.
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