For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Aimee Boone, the Finance Director for the Texas Democratic Party.

Mailbag? More like Mixed Bag, am I right?

In case you're curious about what's actually *in* the Mailbag, we cover Denton County and Turkey. --George

There's an interesting story at Huffington Post today concerning endorsements and what they mean. Essentially, Sam Stein makes the argument that endorsements are good for press but they don't really bring out the voters.

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Fred Chavez, Coryell Democratic County Chair.

Al Gore already has an Oscar and an Emmy. He added to his award shelf when he won the Norwegian Primary this morning. He shares the Nobel Peace Prize with a UN panel on climate change.

Over at The Fix, Chris Cillizza seems convinced that some GOP candidates are ready to fork Iowa over to Mitt Romney.

Complaints about Blackwater don't seem to have fallen on deaf ears — but they do seem to have fallen on ears that miss the point.

Yes, there was a Republican debate yesterday. Don't worry if you missed it; the candidates were all predictable enough that it doesn't get top billing today. What is on top: House Democrats are trying to fix the Protect America Act and its blanket authorization of warrantless wiretaps on American citizens in two very different ways.

Today the Washington Post reports that the SITE Institute, a private intelligence analysis firm that tracks international terrorist activity, had managed to procure September's al-Qaeda video early via their investigations of the group.

Sometimes you don't have to write much about an item of interest in order for it to turn into a great update. Sometimes these things write themselves. Sometimes in the same week Senator John Cornyn votes against health insurance for poor little kids, he sends an update to his constituent newsletter list about an issue of critical importance: bats, and where they go in winter, and what they mean to Texas.