Following up on the post below about Texas Dems' need to field more candidates statewide and in tough races, comes news from Paul Burka that one long-shot may not be that long at all. The Mustached One cites Survey USA numbers that describe Sen. John Cornyn as 89th in popularity of 100 senators, with an approval rating of 45 percent and a disapproval rating of 42 percent – good prospects for a possible pickup in 2008 if the D's are so inclined.

I'm in agony. An unfortunate scheduling conflict is going to keep me from going to Gregory Gym this weekend to watch the No. 8 Texas Longhorns begin their playoff run in the NCAA volleyball tournament. I haven't seen nearly enough volleyball games this year. But since my seat will be vacant, you should take it – if you've never been, you're missing out on one of the best-kept secrets in UT sports.

Launched but a few days ago, What's the Matter with Texas? has already accumulated a deafening buzz in the state blogosphere. What is the matter with Texas? The state Democratic Party, of course. Meant as part postmortem on the party's flagging statewide fortunes, and part bitch session, the blog has already accumulated some big readers. Like Chris Bell.

Responding to a post titled ”The Problem with Chris Bell” blaming Bell's lack of vision and dearth of small donors for his loss, Bell kicked some knowledge of his own – mainly that WTMWT blogger Smarty Pants' small donor numbers were wrong, and the vague inspirational drivel cited was from the early days of the campaign. (Bell's letter, published last night, has since been taken down at his request.)

No, considering what he had to work with (nada), Bell ran one hell of a campaign. As the blog makes abundantly clear elsewhere, “we fielded a weak, inexperienced, and under-funded slate of state-wide candidates, and the party's largest donors backed a Republican running a misguided independent campaign for governor. We did very little to build the base, and those same mistakes threaten to happen again in 2008.”

The TPM Muckraker is reporting the Bush twins' vacation adventures in Argentina have caused such a commotion, the U.S. embassy there has advised them to leave the country.

No, seriously.

UPDATE: This may explain things.

Hey Joe! Pick up, man. It's Bob, the coach, calling for you, bubba. I got some news for your little sports blog, my man. You know I truly feel the Longhorns' pain. That offensive pass interference call was totally bogus! I'm having flashbacks to my own little tryst with Oregon, my little sports buddy. So, hey, if the refs robbed us then, they robbed the Horns against the Aggies. Fair is fair. Don't get me wrong; Texas played like a bunch of wussies, but what else is new? No, seriously, one of your Austin-based sports scribblers actually wrote that those six points don't matter because the bad call came in the second quarter. What? Points are points, my man. They would've sealed an admittedly lame win for Texas over their arch rivals. Doesn't matter what quarter it happened in. What are they teaching these guys in journalism school? Sure isn't math. The refs blew the game. Final score: Texas 14, Aggies 12. Onward and upward.

Monday, former Austin Community Television Executive Director John Villarreal was sentenced to 7 years in jail for embezzling $354,000 from the public access station, bringing a nearly two-year cycle of accusation and investigation to an abrupt end.

Villarreal was suspended for nonperformance of duties December 21, 2004. Yet unbeknownst to the ACTV board, Villarreal had drafted a letter of resignation the day before, a cryptic, two-line note saying he was unable to perform his duties. His fast departure fueled speculation around the station that he pocketed operating funds from ACTV's bank account. Following investigation by the City Auditor's office and the District Attorney in March 2006, Villarreal was indicted for aggregated theft over $200,000, a felony. (With Villarreal's legacy firmly tarnished, ACTV was reborn under new management as Public Access Community Television, or PACT, in September of 2005.)

Gov. Rick Perry has set Dec. 19 for a special election to determine a replacement for Rep. Glenda Dawson, R-Pearland, who died in September. Dawson's name remained on the November ballot and her fightin' spirit went on to win the election in House District 29, thanks in part to a slick mailer that her campaign sent out just before E-Day. The mailer, which featured a photo of a smiling Dawson with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, urged voters to turn out for Dawson but neglected to mention that she was dead.

On Wednesday, November 29 at 7pm, at the Galaxy Highland Theatre, 6700 Middle Fiskville (the shopping center northeast of Highland Mall, across the street from Lincoln Village), People For the American Way will be screening the documentary Shut Up & Sing, which details the education that country music superstars the Dixie Chicks got on the limits of free speech in wartime America. The press release from PFAW sums it up succinctly enough that we'll just reprint it here:

Burial services for former state Sen. Frank Madla will be at 1pm Friday at Texas State Cemetery. Madla, 69, died in a fire at his San Antonio home over the Thanksgiving weekend. Candles from a holiday display are believed to be the accidental cause of the blaze, which also claimed the lives of Madla’s elderly mother-in-law, Mary Cruz, and 5-year-old granddaughter, Aleena Jimenez. Madla’s wife Helen remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in the early morning fire Nov. 24. A Rosary Mass for the 33-year lawmaker was held this morning (Thursday) in Helotes.