As I write this week, I am continuing my visits to different parts of America, talking about the importance of getting out and voting for the men and women who are committed to creating an even better America than the one our parents and grandparents worked and fought to give us.

As Election 2006 enters the home stretch, trial lawyers in Texas are resorting to desperate measures in an attempt to impact a handful of Texas statehouse elections – in particular to defeat one of the more prominent thorns in their side in the Texas Legislature.

"Who Can You Trust?" asks a flier tucked into mailboxes recently in southwestern Travis County. It's from the campaign of Bill Welch, the Republican running in the state House District 47 race, one of the state's most hotly contested legislative races.

In an important development underscoring Jim Landtroop’s ability to effectively represent the interests of HD 85, the campaign today announced major support from key House committee chairs and leaders with influence on issues critical to the district.

Statewide eyes are setting on West Texas as the Republican candidate for Texas House District 85 attempts to wrest the seat from Democratic hands.

Going into the last week of the campaign, there is no sign of a Democratic wave or a Republican wave. It still looks like a good day for Democrats looming on November 7, but not necessarily a catastrophe for Republicans.

Read on...

The so-called “Christian right” is awake and energized. It’s going to town in behalf of the same Republicans who just weeks ago, thanks partly to the capers of Mark Foley, drew looks of dismay.

The decision of New Jersey's Supreme Court that favors same sex marriage is a welcome gift to Republicans in that heavily Democratic state, and could throw several hotly contested races into the GOP column on Nov. 7, a noted political guru predicts.

If the polls are to be believed, the Republicans who control the White House and Congress are in trouble. Their problem? People vote their pocketbooks, or wallets, the old adage goes. But the economy is booming. Even gasoline prices have plummeted. Unemployment, the bogeyman of politicians, has shrunken to a record low point.

WASHINGTON — An attack on President Bush's Iraq policy by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry erupted into a verbal dogfight Tuesday between the failed 2004 Democratic presidential candidate and administration spokesman Tony Snow, who Kerry called a "stuffed suit White House mouthpiece."

Yes, it’s the political silly season, when media experts hyperventilate over oddly assorted, often trivial controversies (George Allen’s “Macaca”-gate; the allegedly racist Harold-Ford-at-the-Playboy-Party ad; Rush Limbaugh’s “insensitive” mockery of Michael J. Fox) that loom large in the run-up to a major election but stand little chance of qualifying for long term historical significance.

If you're a fiscal conservative in Texas right now, the very thought of the November election should cause shivers to race up your spine. If it doesn't, let us get you up to speed.

Republicans say the latest evidence gives them reason to think they will maintain control of the Senate, although Vice President Dick Cheney may not feel free to leave Washington often during the next two years.