The campaign for speaker of the state House is in full swing, and it'll soon be coming to a mailbox and answering machine near you, Bud Kennedy writes in the Star-Telegram:

Armed with a recent court ruling allowing a bombardment of campaign advertising, the Midland Republican's friends are about to start calling and mailing us, pressuring local lawmakers to keep Craddick as speaker when the House convenes Jan. 13.

Meanwhile, Patricia Kilday Hart looks at the behind-closed-doors aspects of the speakers' race in a cover story in The Texas Observer:

Until January, this race will take place in a private realm that insiders describe as a real-life version of The Art of War, a mostly psychological battle in which perception equals reality.