Free Republic

Democrats pulling for Wendy Davis to turn Texas blue in 2014 should hope she has developed a thicker skin since her first run for public office nearly two decades ago, which ended in a bizarre lawsuit against a local newspaper. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Fort Worth city council in 1996, Davis sued the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, along with parent companies ABC and Disney, for libel, alleging that the paper’s coverage of her campaign had been biased and “demonizing,” caused harm to her physical and mental health, and infringed on her “right to pursue public offices...

SAN ANTONIO — Democrat Bill White said Friday that he will take the stage for a gubernatorial debate this fall sponsored by the state's largest newspapers and Austin public television station KLRU-TV. Republican Gov. Rick Perry made no commitment. On the day the Houston Chronicle and other debate sponsors formally invited the candidates to the Oct. 19 debate in Austin, Perry's campaign continued to say that he will not debate until White releases income tax returns from his years as deputy energy secretary in the mid-1990s. "We will be ready for a debate when Bill White releases his tax returns,"...

Friedman feeling his way from career as musician, writer to politics. Offensive strategy? Heck yeah, Kinky says Musician-writer Kinky Friedman, kind of a flashing neon sign running for governor, has lately explored a theme that could make his bid shimmer or burn out. He wants to win by provocation or, as he framed it in an expletive-laced conversation, "the more people I offend, the more people will like me." Friedman, 61, declared his candidacy last year by vowing to "de-wussify Texas." He and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state comptroller, are trying to reach the ballot as independents by raising 45,540...