Voting records in an election year are a tough issue. It's hard, this far out, to see what will be the key questions and who will be held accountable for what. OK, Iraq is a given, but moves are afoot to keep the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) congressional vote and presidential veto an issue.

Americans United for Change has launched a TV campaign targeting a bunch of Republican members of congress, in an attempt to get them to vote for the anticipated veto override on October 18. Originally, they were going to target eight GOPers from around the nation. Now that number has swelled to 22 names, plus radio ads for a couple more. On that extended TV target list is U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, who gets an ad all of her own.

As a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, she's often regarded as a "small government" conservative, rather than a social conservative. That could make getting her to go for a veto override tough, because SCHIP kinda involves government spending. But if the tactic is to make her SCHIP veto vote an issue for November '08, it could be a lot more effective.

“With devastating slowness, his hand cupped her completely before he slid a finger into her …”

Oh, hello, didn’t see you there. Just reading a quick extract from A Perfect Match by novelist, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and now Texas State Chair for the Rudy Giuliani campaign, Susan Combs.

The press release from Giuliani's people goes on to laud her for winning two terms as the agriculture commissioner. However, Combs was widely regarded by the Texas farming community as completely dropping the ball during the last three years of drought. Cattle ranchers in particular accused her of a lack of leadership. In failing to establish any real relief programs until the drought had already taken grip, decades of good blood lines were devastated and cows that should have gone for breeding went for cut-price beef instead. In conversations with Chronic in the run up to last fall’s elections, when she was stepping aside to be replaced by fellow GOPer Todd Staples, several farmers bleakly wished that she would have spent as much time on her job as commissioner as she did on her run for comptroller.

For any fans of the literary stylings of Combs, be prepared to shell out anything up to $30 for a used paperback of her (sadly out-of-print) bodice-ripping masterpiece.

Travis County is accepting applications to vote early by mail for the Nov. 6 election. Because, you know, you don't want to miss this opportunity to abolish the office of Inspector of Animals and Hides. Press release from the county follows:

In the week that Vice-President Al Gore received a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in educating the world about climate change, the global warming doubters have been getting all giddy about a British court calling Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth partisan and saying it should be kept out of schools.

Apart from the fact it's not really true. What actually happened is that a school governor, Stewart Dimmock, had been trying to get the film taken off the curriculum, alleging it was "brainwashing" pupils, by suing the government. Last Thursday, High Court judge Mr Justice Barton said that, while he thought there were some scientific inaccuracies or issues on which there were rival interpretations, the film was "broadly accurate" and it could be shown in schools as part of a wider discussion. This was actually redundant: In February, U.K. Environment Secretary David Miliband ordered the film be sent to all state secondary schools as part of a package of climate change educational material, and said it was to be discussed in context.

But who is Stewart Dimmock? As a professional truck driver, he's part of an industry that has continually lobbied against any form of carbon tax. But there's another component. The Manchester Observer reports Dimmock is a member of and backed by obscure political group The New Party. According to the report, the party's main funder is mining-firm Cloburn Quarry Ltd. Firm owner Robert Durward previously funded professional climate change debunkers the Scientific Alliance, which worked with the Exxon-funded George C. Marshall Institute to attack the Kyoto Protocols.

The New Party describes itself in vague terms on its website as favoring "economic liberalism, political reform and internationalism." But buried in the manifesto are the mantras of deregulation and free marketeering. It also proposes withdrawing from the UN and the International Criminal Court, chillingly adding "A sentimental attachment to ‘international law’ is no substitute for effective action."

So that will be "New Party," as in "Neo-Con."

It was just as bloody as expected. A capacity crowd at Thursday's council meeting saw the council make a step towards the closure and demolition of the Town Lake Animal Center and the construction of a new site at the proposed Health and Human Services Campus on Airport.

Anti-retail-incentive activists Stop Domain Subsidies may have picked up some unlikely allies – the Travis County Libertarian Party.

The City of Austin: 55 volunteer boards and commissions, totaling 450 citizen members, and no two run the same way. Back in April, the city manager’s office was ordered to turn a 2003 report on their assorted rules into workable policy that would standardize board rules and procedures. Assistant City Manager Bert Lumbreras got to present the findings to the council today.

First off, definitions: Under the recommendations, a board is anything with a minimum three-year lifespan, and a task-force is anything with a set end-date. Unless directed by state or federal law, boards would have seven members (resident in Austin), one from each council office and confirmed by majority vote. Although there would be no additional mandatory membership qualifications, lobbyists are still out, and anyone with a conflict of interest should recuse themselves.

New members would take a 3 ½ hour orientation course before starting their three-year term. The plan proposes a three-term limit, with a one-hour refresher every year. Incumbents needn’t worry: their clock would get set to zero, so prior membership wouldn’t count. Minimum quarterly meetings: miss three without good reason, you’re out.

Where it gets interesting is board votes. Seven members, four present to be quorate, is straight-forward enough. But an affirmative vote would require a majority member vote, so no barely-quorate meetings passing a recommendation on three ‘ayes.’

The proposals will be presented to the Ethics Commissions on October 22, then come up for public hearing November 8.

In one of the breaks for executive session during today's council meeting, Chronic took the opportunity to play with the new, shiny info-toy in the lobby of City Hall, the Austin: Past and Present booth.

This potted history of Austin, covering everything from its geological formation to the last time a bat pooped on the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, is actually quite fun and loaded with "well, I never" factoids. Navigated by trackball, (showing his age, Chronic's first thought was "ooh, Missile Command!"), the system contains two hours of video and some excitingly rare images of the birth of the city. Actually, as an educational resource and a way to while away a few minutes while, say, stuck at the airport, it's really quite spiffy.

But there's some odd choices for what's covered. In fact, it's slightly miraculous that they can talk so long about Sixth Street without mentioning the words "beer," "well drinks" or "body shots." But oddest is the very informative section about the history of KTBC. While a fitting tribute to the station created by Lady Bird Johnson, it then gets all mysteriously gushy about the fact that Fox 7 (as it is now known) is known for its "host of innovative programming, innovative sports packaging, and impactful news." This eBackslap is accompanied by clips of The Simpsons, The X-Files, American Idol and an Orioles game.

Agenda highlights for the Thursday, October 11 council meeting:

Item 5: Picking up the legal bills for former Officer Julie Schroeder in the civil suit brought against her by the family of Daniel Rocha, fatally shot by Schroeder during a traffic stop on June 9, 2005. As Mike Martinez puts it, he may not like that they have to do it, but since she was on-duty, they're legally bound to do so.