Texas GOP Releases New Online Ad

Barack Obama's campaign is built upon the theme of "change." Looking at his history in the Illinois State Senate, it's hard to find what he actually changed while serving.

The Republican Party of Texas has a new web ad titled Present that brings to light the fact that Obama voted "present" nearly 130 times as an Illinois State Senator. Perhaps that's why his Presidential campaign has been so short on specifics and issues "above his pay grade." When his constituents needed him to be their voice on vital decisions, he took a pass.

Watch the ad below:

Texas posts record voter registration

While Southeast Texans were hunkering down and picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ike over the weekend, Texas quietly broke its own voter registration record, according to Randall Dillard, a spokesman for Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade.

The previous record of slightly fewer than 3.1 million registered voters, set during the 2004 presidential election year, was eclipsed over the weekend. And that number will continue to grow before voter registration ends Oct. 6.

What that means for the presidential election and a host of other races in Texas, of course, remains to be seen. But if the March primaries are any indication, a large number of those registered voters will actually vote.

Libertarian says GOP, Dems missed deadline for Texas ballots

R.G. Ratcliffe - San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN — The Libertarian Party of Texas and party presidential nominee Bob Barr are asking the state Supreme Court to remove the names of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain from the presidential ballot.

Barr said the two major parties missed an Aug. 26 deadline for giving the official names of their nominees to the Texas secretary of state for certification. In a filing Thursday, the Libertarians asked the court to halt Saturday's planned mail-out by counties of absentee and military ballots.

At a news conference outside the Texas Supreme Court building, Barr said the state ballot certification law is clear and the court should have no problem ruling in the Libertarians' favor.
“It should require no legal contortions whatsoever to stand for the rule of law,” Barr said. “The law we have here in Texas is not ambiguous. It is not vague.”

If Barr and the Libertarians win the lawsuit, Barr would be the only presidential candidate on the Texas ballot and likely would carry away all of the state's 34 electoral votes.
A lot is at stake for the two major parties in the lawsuit. McCain probably could not win the presidency without Texas, and Democrats are counting on enthusiasm for Obama to help drive turnout and create victories in down-ballot races.

The Libertarians claim both national parties missed a 5 p.m. Aug. 26 deadline for submitting the name of their presidential candidate to the Texas secretary of state for certification.
The Democratic National Convention was occurring as the deadline passed, and the Republican convention occurred a week later.

While neither national party officially had a presidential nominee by that date, both state parties filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office regarding their intent. The office certified McCain and Obama as having positions on the ballot.

The lawsuit, filed this week, contends this amounts to an illegal pre-certification. The state's high court has given the state and national parties until 3 p.m. Monday to respond. The motion filed Thursday seeks to stop the mail-out of ballots until after the lawsuit is resolved.
Texas Solicitor General James Ho in a letter to the state Supreme Court described the lawsuits as “meritless.”

Barr is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who became prominent during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. He became a Libertarian after leaving office.

First Hispanic Woman Sworn In As Texas Secretary of State

Esperanza "Hope" Andrade, a San Antonio native from the West Side who was born into a family of cotton farmers, was sworn in as Texas Secretary of State, becoming the first Hispanic woman to fill that position.

She vowed to use her position to "protect the integrity of the election process," and to promote greater voter participation among disenfranchised Texans. She also promised to maintain a business friendly environment for entrepreneurs.

"They say America is another name for opportunity but Texas is the land of unlimited opportunity," Andrade, 58, said in her acceptance speech before hundreds of friends, family supporters and Gov. Rick Perry, who appointed her.

As secretary of state, Andrade will be the state’s chief elections officer, the governor’s liaison on border and Mexico affairs and chief protocol officer for state and international matters.

In remarks before Andrade was sworn in, Perry called his newest appointee "a great champion of San Antonio and a passionate advocate for all Texans."

"It is an honor to have you on our team," he told her.

Photo courtesy of Associated Press