A Republican friend of ours likes to say that whenever people in the GOP assemble for a project, they start by filling out index cards.

We always thought he was exaggerating, but we're now in possession of an 11-page questionnaire sent to Republican candidates by Stars Over Texas — the political action committee set up to defend incumbent House Republicans in general election races. Some of the questions are mundane, but some ask about things most experienced politicians won't commit to paper.

There are blanks for normal biographical information, like name, address, phone number, and all of that. It asks whether the candidate lives in the district, and the length of time they've been in the district, their county, and the state. It asks how many hours they work in a week, and how many are available for campaigning.

The questionnaire has a section on lawsuits — past and pending — and public contracts or "taxpayer-related business relationships," and political contributions made by the candidate. It's got essay questions on reasons for running, qualifications, principles and issues, current political positions, past involvement, and "how you can make a difference."

The campaign section asks for some tactical information, with blanks for vote goals in the primary and general elections, budget targets for both races, the size of the candidate's email address database, and a list of consultants. It asks if the candidate's ethics reports are current and error-free, and for finance information, including stuff that's in the ethics reports, and average monthly campaign expenses.

It doesn't say who'll have access to the filled out questionnaire or how the information will be used, but has an address and fax number where it can be sent.

Here's a rule for better living: Don't mess with federal judges.

When U.S. Senate hopeful Rick Noriega, D-Houston, went to the Texas Association of Broadcasters and compared bloggers to vitriolic radio talk shows, he ended up having to apologize. Radio people are used to this stuff; it was the bloggers who were peeved. You'll find his online mea culpa at the firedoglake blog. He says he wouldn't be in the race without the "net roots," admitted he said what he was quoted (in the San Antonio Express-News) as saying, and recanted, referring to the bloggers' "democratic influence" as opposed to the "corporate right-wing noise machine."

• Mikal Watts — he's the Democrat running against Noriega for the opportunity to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn — put another $3.7 million into his campaign accounts. That's it, he says, for the primaries. Everything else he raises will be for the general election, assuming he's the winner in March. The latest contribution from the candidate brings the total of his donations and loans to himself to $7.4 million. He had raised $1.1 million from others at mid-year, according to campaign finance reports.

• Luke Marchant, son of U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, will be field director for Pete Olsen's congressional campaign. Olsen, former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of several Republicans who wants a shot at U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, in CD-22. That's Tom DeLay's old seat, and the GOP has it high on the target list.

• U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican whose district runs east from Dallas, endorsed Craig Goldman, a Republican who's running in Fort Worth (that's west of Dallas, if you're new) for an open statehouse seat. That's the subject of a special election in November; Goldman is one of seven people vying to replace Rep. Anna Mowery, who resigned last month.

• State Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, has some Democrats after him for supporting Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, and he refers to them as partisans in a fundraising appeal for his primary race. That's usually a term that comes out in November, when the parties are battling each other. Bailey's pitch: "Already I have an opponent, in the March primary, who is engaging in petty, partisan attacks. As a result, I am forced to begin our campaign early."

• It turns out you can create and mail in Uniform Commercial Code filings from state prisons to the Texas Secretary of State's office and make it look like somebody hasn't been paying their debts. And Mycal Antoine Poole did that to a couple of federal judges — Sam Sparks and Andrew Austin. He also taught some other inmates how to do the same thing, according to court testimony. He got caught. The attorney general's office says he'll get 20 years added to the 60 years he was already serving.

The Senate race among John Cornyn, Rick Noriega and Mikal Watts resurged into blogospheric prominence this week. Bloggers also canvassed regional contests and criticized traditional forms of media. And, there's a list of items for the back-to-school season...

* * * * *

Senatorial September

Burnt Orange Report wrestles with revelations that Republican aficionado Bob Perry has donated $7,000 to Democratic candidate Noriega (and more to wife Melissa Noriega, a Houston city council member), and asks readers to offer their own opinions in an online poll. So what if Noriega has taken money from a Republican? says Capitol Annex. At least he hasn't given money to Republicans, as Watts has.

Annex has a video of Noriega calling for an end to the Iraq war, and relays a post from Keeping Terrell in the Loop that trashes the incumbent Cornyn. Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, has a handful of videos of the candidates. At worst, Democrats will gain four seats in the U.S. Senate in 2008, Half Empty predicts, suggesting that Cornyn find another job, maybe as a hand model.

Half Empty deconstructs Watts's Q & A session with the Young Democrats at the University of Texas at Austin, here and here. Texas Kaos does likewise, here.

Off the Kuff says Noriega "scored a touchdown" with recent endorsements by Cameron County officials and posts Noriega's statement about the death of Sgt. Omar Mora, one of the writers of a New York Times op-ed piece critical of the Iraq War.

Postcards from the Trail, the Austin American-Statesman's blog, surmises that Watts's big money could "inadvertently raise Noriega's profile with voters. This prospect assumes, of course, that Watts mentions Noriega by name." Noriega's campaign consultant James Aldrete tells Texas Politics that they ain't skeered.

The Texas Cloverleaf thinks the Democratic campaigners should portray Cornyn as a "friend of Big Tobacco and hater of small children." Meanwhile, musings writes, "Cornyn is often called Bush's lapdog, and the slobber was certainly flowing today." Trail Blazers, the Dallas Morning News's blog, has background information on Cornyn's new campaign director, Rob Jesmer.

* * * * *

Around the Horn

The Web site of Republican congressional candidate Jim McGrody is "quite impressive," says Burnt Orange. The retired publisher is aiming to supplant Democratic U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez and is having a fundraiser on Sept. 26, according to Walker Report. In other CD-23 news, Republican candidate Quico Canseco is barking up the wrong tree when he accuses the "blue dog" Rodriguez of following orders from MoveOn.org, according to Annex.

Republican Alan Steinberg has tossed his hat into the CD-22 ring. He's young, he blogs, and he's "sure to have his hat handed to him by [Shelley] Sekula-Gibbs (sic) and [Robert] Talton in the primary," Annex says. In a different post, Annex wonders, "Are Republicans Moving In A Virginia Ringer To Challenge Chet Edwards"?

Greg's Opinion has a rundown of Houston's municipal elections. Kuff interviews council candidate Joe Trevino, who's gunning for Position 5. Opponent Jack Christie dropped his bid for the seat recently, because of a Houston Chronicle article exposing that he doesn't live in the district, says Houtopia. Candidate Zaf Tahir faces similar allegations, but Kuff thinks it'll blow over. "Kind of hard to promote the city and solve it's (sic) problems when you don't think enough of it to sleep over," laments The Wartime Consigliere.

"I think former Houston police chief C.O. Bradford has a great chance to knock off Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal in the 2008 elections," says Grits for Breakfast. And Burnt Orange reports on Joel Burns, a former Fort Worth school board trustee who is one of six vying to replace Wendy Davis on the city council.

Half Empty declares that Ron Reynolds is not a "Craddick D." Reynolds will face incumbent State Rep. Dora Olivo, D-Rosenberg, in the primary. Meanwhile, Dallas.org is offering a $100 reward for video and audio of any city employee campaigning for or against the Trinity River Corridor Project.

Consigliere gives an update on the Republican primary contest between Charles ("Chicklet") Bacarisse and Ed Emmett for Harris County Judge, while Annex relays a list of the more than 100 school districts who are calling tax rate elections.

State Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, is shopping for statewide office, sneers McBlogger. What does this mean for Houston Mayor Bill White, wonders Burnt Orange.

Larry Joe Doherty, of Texas Justice fame, opened his campaign headquarters in CD-7, which could be an issue because the Democrat is running in CD-10, says Burnt Orange. In an unrelated matter, In the Pink posts video of a political advertisement for State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. "I've never seen Watson run that fast," she comments. [eds. Note: it's a knock-off of a commercial that helped the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone beat an incumbent Republican.]

Here's Wellstone:

And Watson:

* * * * *

M$M Melee: Double-Standard Alert

In the Pink swears off books because of Bill Clinton, and PinkDome swears off the Dallas Morning News because its Web site "is excruciating."

Kaos takes the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to task for a hatchet job on a letter to the editor written by Kaos. The Star-Telegram subsequently promised to reprint the letter in its original, though spell-checked, form. Meanwhile, Texas Monthly's BurkaBlog made a mistake in a post mentioning Annex, complains Annex.

Brains and Eggs sums up the "blogswarm" stemming from a San Antonio Express-News/Houston Chronicle article containing statements by blog-favored senatorial candidate Noriega that weren't friendly toward blogs. The pro-Noriega bloggers who loved a negative Watts story are worked up about the same reporter quoting their guy's comparison of left-wing bloggers and right-wing radio talk show folk.

Burnt Orange accuses reporter R.G. Ratcliffe of taking a "cheap shot" at Matt Glazer;McBlogger asserts that Noriega's quote was taken out of context "R.G. Ratcliffe, acting as a lap-dog for the political establishment, deliberately set out to drive a wedge between Rick and some of his strongest supporters in his article," Annex opines.

Annex says Ratcliffe got played by the Watts campaign. Half Empty agrees and tells Ratcliffe to go back to J-school. Greg says Noriega is the one who screwed up, but at least owned up to his mistake. Bloggers still like Noriega more than Watts, who "doesn't want you to read blogs," posts Annex.

"My oh my, bloggers have thin skins," responds Ratcliffe in Texas Politics.

* * * * *

Course Schedule

Astronomy: "Latinos Uniting? And Are the planets aligning?" marvels Dos Centavos.

Business Class: This is the name of a new blog by Charlie Ray of PinkDome, courtesyof Capitol Crowd.

Criminal Justice: Grits for Breakfast posts the Aug. 13 Texas Youth Commission report to the Legislature. Grits breaks it down, concluding that TYC expects recidivism rates to increase and noting that more than 80 percent of TYC inmates who requested counseling this spring were diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Executive Commissioner Dimitria Pope is "passing the buck" to "small groups of hand-picked insiders," Grits says. He also posts an April evaluation of the TYC by the American Correctional Association.

Driver's Ed: By the Bayou explains why Texas needs red-light cameras and the like.

Environmental Science: Burnt Orange highlights Environment Texas' latest legislative scorecard. Annex's take is here.

Journalism: Walker's Report links to the newest edition of the South Texas Republicans' newsletter.

Music: Matthew Dowd, former chief strategist for George W. Bush, got picked up by U2's Bono, says In the Pink.

Rhetoric: Austin city council member Mike Martinez gives a lesson in clear communication to Toby Futrell, as relayed by McBlogger.

Sociology: Austinist explores what it's like to hail from California but live in Austin.

Texas History: Houstoned distills the history of the Lone Star state into four sentences. Texas Politics notes the disappearance of a press release by the Texas Historical Commission on the disputed Davy Crockett letter.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria and finds Austin's climate pleasantly arid. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

The 65,000 people in the music-loving throng at Austin's Zilker Park last weekend got bright sunshine, high humidity, and some possibly illegal fans to wave in their hot, sweaty faces.

The fans — these are the kind used for hot weather, and the kind that bought tickets to see the 120 bands assembled for the Austin City Limits Music Festival — were promoting passage of a cancer research bond package in November.

They're normal-looking political ads, with a big exception: The usual political disclaimer is missing from the text, though it appears in a version of the ads that's on the website of Livestrong: The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

"We ran those by our attorney. It's a novelty item and we're well within the lines," says Katherine McLane, communications director for the foundation. "We got the thumbs-up from our legal advisors."

The fan:

McLane wouldn't name those lawyers. But others in the business — including the head of the political action committee leading the effort to pass those bonds — say the disclaimers should have been there.

"We go over that in every single meeting," says former Comptroller John Sharp. "We end all of our [conference] calls with 'If you do anything, put a disclaimer on it.' "

McLane says the advertising effort was a big success and that the three-day music festival offered them "an opportunity to communicate to a large group of voters about Prop 15... At the end of the day, that's what matters."

The same artwork used on the fans at ACL Fest appears on the Livestrong website. But in that version, there's a disclaimer attributing it to one of three political action committees promoting the constitutional amendment. It says "Political Advertising Paid For By Texans To Cure Cancer, P.O. Box 236, Austin, Texas 78767."

Sharp, who heads that group, says they didn't have anything to do with it, and didn't pay for any of it.

"We don't know anything about it," he says. "I would have known about the fans, because I would have had to sign the check."

The artwork that appears on the fans and on the Livestrong website doesn't even appear on the Texans to Cure Cancer site.

McLane says the foundation covered the cost of the fans and that about 20,000 were distributed at the ACL Festival.

"Look, their hearts are in the right place, and they want this thing to pass and they got some bad advice," Sharp says. "They probably need to get new lawyers."

Look for hot and heavy campaigning down in South Texas in the next six months as Mikal Watts and state Rep. Rick Noriega duke it out for the right to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in November 2008.

Combined with border counties, South Texas will make up anywhere from 30 to 35 percent of the Democratic vote, says University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray. There are more voters in the primaries in those deep blue areas, Murray says, because there's usually no serious Republican threat in November, making the March primaries the de facto election for most offices.

And South Texas's importance is not just due to its disproportionate voter turnout, says Democratic strategist Kelly Fero, veteran of a dozen statewide campaigns. He says the rapidly growing, predominately Hispanic area symbolizes Texas' future.

"To win statewide without Hidalgo County is not a victory that represents the future," says Fero, referring to the Valley's most populous county. Hidalgo contributed the second-highest number of voters in the 2006 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate (Bexar County was first, followed by Hidalgo, El Paso, Harris, Dallas, and Webb; six of the top ten are along the Mexican border or are part of South Texas).

Both Democratic campaigns claim the Rio Grande Valley as rightfully theirs.

The area is predominately Hispanic, working class and, according to James Aldrete, a spokesman for Noriega, has a history of "[sending] its sons and daughters off to war." Noriega, a Hispanic and a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who served in Afghanistan, has a personal story that is more in line with the area's voters than Watts, an Anglo lawyer from Corpus Christi who now lives in San Antonio, Aldrete says.

"I just don't see a scenario where we don't win Hidalgo County," Aldrete says.

Not so fast, says the Watts' camp. Unlike Noriega, Watts is a familiar face in the Valley, having done business there for several years. And he's put in some time getting to know the area's voters, holding 20 to 25 events there since June.

"[Watts] is not going to concede any square inch of terrain in any region in Texas and most especially in south Texas," says Kim Devlin, a spokeswoman for his campaign.

Many political observers believe that — all other things being equal — a Latino candidate will beat a non-Latino in South Texas. But, they add, there's a lot more to picking up South Texas votes than having a Hispanic last name.

Just ask Leticia Hinojosa, a judge from McAllen who lost to U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, in the 2004 Democratic primary. Doggett handily beat Hinojosa in the overall race, losing only in Starr and Jim Hogg counties, and nudging ahead of Hinojosa by 64 votes in Hidalgo, her home county. Guess who managed Doggett's campaign? Christian Archer, Watt's current campaign boss.

Watts has already had some early success in Hidalgo County, picking up a slew of endorsements from prominent officeholders in Hidalgo county like state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, and Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas.

Political endorsements are usually as valuable as Enron stock. But a the tip of the hat to Watts from heavy hitters like Hinojosa and Salinas could actually mean something in the Valley and could effectively counter Noriega's ethnic advantage, says political scientist Jerry Polinard of the University of Texas-Pan American. Especially if those endorsements translate to "boots on the ground" in terms of volunteers for Watts' campaign, Polinard adds.

Those endorsing Watts say it was difficult to choose between the two candidates, but feel that Watts is a better candidate to represent their constituents.

"[Watts] is more adapted, philosophically speaking, to this community," Peña said, contending that Watts' anti-abortion stance plays better than Noriega's pro-choice position with the more socially conservative voters in South Texas.

And then there's the money factor. Senate races aren't cheap, and supporters of Watts say the lawyer, who has already pumped millions of dollars into his own campaign, has the resources to take on the incumbentCornyn in a state the size of Texas. As of the end of June, Cornyn had $5.3 in cash for his upcoming campaign to Watts' $4.9 million. Watts has since raised his personal contribution to $7.5 million.

Texas has more than 20 media markets, and money is critical in a statewide race. "Unfortunately, that is the reality," Salinas says. "You have to take that into consideration."

Noriega has not yet said how much he's raised, but has joined the battle for South Texas. He gained the support earlier this month of officials in Cameron County, which is next to Hidalgo and has sent about half as many voters to Democratic primaries in recent Senate races. Aldrete didn't say how much Noriega has raised (those numbers will be released at the end of this month), but did emphasize that his guy's personal story and concern for the average voter will wind up carrying the day, regardless of Watts' money and endorsements.

— Alan Suderman

If the media are the gatekeepers of information, then the keymaster is Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has emerged as an advocate for open government while defining what constitutes "public information" in Texas.

He's filed briefs in support of the media in two major lawsuits — one the press lost, one that's pending — and is drafting an opinion on which financial information should be included (and which should not be included) in the comptroller's new online database of state agency spending.

The first lawsuit started in June 2003, when the Houston Municipal Employee Pensions System refused to release the salaries of system employees to KTRK-TV reporter Wayne Dolcefino, claiming the information was exempt from the Public Information Act.

Taking up for the TV station, Assistant AG Brenda Loudermilk argued that the Act only excludes disclosure of the pensions of state employees. HMEPS's attorney Bob Shannon contends that exemption language also covers the pay of pension system employees.

A Travis County district court agreed with Loudermilk and the TV station, but that ruling was overturned by the 6th Court of Appeals in Texarkana. That court sided with Shannon and HMEPS.

Loudermilk argued, in a petition for review to the Texas Supreme Court, that "HMEPS's interpretation is illogical." But the court denied that in 2006 and finalized its decision in April.

According to Loudermilk, if that interpretation stands, every pension agency in the state could enjoy exemption from the Public Information Act on employee-related items like reprimands, timesheets, phone records, e-mails, and agency memorabilia... "if they included the names of employees."

If you stretch it, Dallas attorney Paul Watler says, the pension exemption could conceivably include every single individual participating in the state pension plan.

"It could have a real daisy-chain effect, and pretty soon no information would be released," he says, characterizing the court rulings as "not consistent with the letter or spirit of the law."

Watler says the Legislature should look at closing the pension loophole in 2009.

The second lawsuit is ongoing and pits The Dallas Morning News against the comptroller in a suit that was already underway when Susan Combs took over that agency in January. In November 2005, the comptroller excised state employees' birthdates in a copy of the state employee payroll database sent to the newspaper, citing the risk of identity theft.

Then-Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn requested an opinion from Abbott. He sided with the newspaper, so she took him to court in Travis County.

Loudermilk again represented the AG, this time teaming up with Watler, who represented the newspaper. Maureen Powers, an attorney representing the comptroller, wrote in a motion "that today there exist 'special circumstances' which argue against releasing date of birth information."

But the District Court agreed with the AG and the paper. The comptroller appealed, and the case — heard by Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals earlier this month, is pending.

Watler declined a chance to comment on the case-in-progress, but Austin attorney Joel White, who's been watching, says, "The only correct interpretation is that birthdays are public. The reason is the Act doesn't say they're private."

A few things the law isn't so clear on, though, form the subjects of a July 19 opinion request from the Comptroller to the Attorney General.

Combs wants clarifications on HB 3430, a piece of legislation she backed that puts a database of state expenditures online.

She asks:

1) Are net salary amounts paid to public employees public?

2) If so, should the Comptroller withhold information marked as protected by other agencies?

3) Is payee county address information of public employees public?

4) If so, should the Comptroller withhold information marked as protected by other agencies?

Abbott's opinion isn't due until January. It could come out sooner, though: Katherine "Missy" Minter Cary, the chief of Abbott's general counsel division, says the opinion is being drafted right now.

Watler says he's not aware of anyone asking about net salary before, and he's not sure how much additional insight net salary, in lieu of gross salary, would provide to the public.

Cary said the addresses of certain individuals — like judges, police officers and stalking victims — are already off-limits, but further distinctions will have to be made in Abbott's opinion.

Until then, everyone's just going to have to wait.

— Patrick Brendel

We ran a campaign finance chart on political action committees a few weeks ago that had a big glitch in it. We'll take the blame for the mistake — we are sorry, sorry, sorry. And we'll fix it — see below. And you'll want to know how to avoid it yourself if you're using online government records to do your own numbers.Political action committees that file monthly reports are not included in the Cash on Hand reports you find on the Texas Ethics Commission website. Worse, it turns out that the really big money, for the most part, is in the monthly filers' reports and not in the semi-annual reports. So the PAC we had listed at the biggest on the block is actually only the fourth largest, and we heard from some folks who knew about the big dogs. So. We asked the ethics folks for a compilation — they were helpful and quick — and here are two charts that resulted. One is a ranking of the wealthiest MPACs as of their latest reports, filed in late August and early September. The second is a mixed chart, showing the richest PACs overall, mixing the outfits that file monthly with the ones that filed in July (click on either chart to download a printable .pdf version). You'll find our other charts in the Files section. They're still right (particularly the candidate charts), but the PAC chart only ranks the six-month filers.