Speaking to an audience in Texas yesterday, Senator Hillary Clinton disclosed that she had finally nailed down the support of two very influential Texans who together might tip the balance in her favor on March 4. These high-profile political leaders from the Lone Star State made tremendous inroads for women in their many years of service to state and country. And now they’re dead! MORE »

The former Texas governor and one-time Democratic star died last night. After the young George W. Bush ran her out of office in 1994, Ann Richards said, “I did not want my tombstone to read, ‘She kept a really clean house.’”

Early reports say it won’t say anything of the sort.

A few fun facts, after the jump.

MORE »

* Reliable Source: Condoleezza Rice plays a duet with Marvin Hamlisch at International Women’s Day celebration attended by Laura Bush, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, Michael Chertoff, and John Negroponte. . . John Ashcroft and wife Janet attend mandatory ethics course to complete their induction to the D.C. Bar. . . Jack Abramoff shows Vanity Fair photos of him with Newt Gingrich, who denies knowing the former lobbyist. . . Ann Richards, former Texas governor, has cancer of the esophagus. [WP]
* Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: The James Carville and Luke Russert sports show launches March 17th on XM Radio. [NYDN]
* The Scoop: Madonna supports Hillary ‘08: “I don

Harriet Miers might seem like W’s ultradeferential “work wife,” but she makes free with the speaking fees for some bigtime feminists, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Peter Schmidt. When she was on the board of trustees for the Southern Methodist University Law School, Miers backed an endowed lecture series for women’s studies, named in honor of pioneering Texas woman lawyer Louise B. Raggio. Miers “not only advocated for the series, but gave money and solicited donations to get it off the ground,” Schmidt writes. But what’s really striking is who the money went to: MORE »