The Quorum Report has what Harvey would no doubt call some Sizzlin' Buzz: Francisco "Quico" Canseco has begun campaigning in earnest for the GOP nomination in the 23rd Congressional District. According to QR, he's got staffers, he's got radio, and he's already three deep in direct mail.

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Vickie Brekel, the Hardin County Democratic Chair.

What are we doing talking with North Korea? I thought we didn't do that diplomacy thing. Doesn't that encourage the terrorists?

I received an email from Politico yesterday about how Barack Obama won the Politico Straw Poll. I don't know that I would have classified it as a Breaking News Alert, with all the capital letters, but I see why they are excited: they sponsored the poll of activists attending Take Back America.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was, up until last night, something many Texans have encountered in the past: a Democrat who switched parties and then enjoyed electoral success. Last night, however, something different happened, something rarer — what you might call "pulling a Jeffords:" he left the Republican Party.

The polls keep coming in for the 2008 presidential election, and even though I am an avid believer that polls mean nothing this far out and can't possibly tell you anything, I keep reading them and thinking about them.

Has anyone let George W. Bush know that just because he says in a signing statement that he doesn't like a law, that doesn't mean he can opt not to follow it?

This might be the big one.

As was more or less expected, Melissa Noriega won her city council election in Houston handily, 55% to 45%. There had been some sweating and fretting about turnout, and rightly so — while you never know which way that pendulum is going to swing in most elections, in a special (read: runoff) election for a municipal race you can almost always count on it being down. In this race, with turnout reported to be around 3%, every bit mattered. Our congratulations go to Melissa.

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Eduardo Hagert, chief of staff for Eliot Shapleigh.