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GOP, Dems Gather for State Conventions

Texas political parties are gathering for the state's party conventions.

The Republicans are meeting in Fort Worth and the Libertarians will meet near the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The Democrats are in Houston and delegates from the Texas Green Party will head to San Antonio.

Governor Rick Perry is scheduled to address the Republican convention this morning. Texas U.S. Representative Ron Paul will lead a session this afternoon. The convention runs through Sunday and will also feature Rick Santorum and Wisconsin U.S. Representative Paul Ryan.

The top speakers at the Democratic convention are San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. The Democrats are expected to elect a new party leader this weekend.

KUT's Ben Philpott talked conventional wisdom and party platforms with Ross Ramsey, executive editor of KUT’s reporting partner the Texas Tribune.

“A few years ago, the Democrats took a lot of the specific program things out of their platform, so that not all of their candidates would have to sign off on every single line of every single idea that got through the convention. The Republicans took the other tack and have been very specific in their platform, and in fact very prescriptive in their platform; you could actually almost write legislation out of it.”

Laura first joined the KUT team in April 2012. She now works for the statewide program Texas Standard as a reporter and producer. Laura came to KUT from the world of television news. She has worn many different hats as an anchor, reporter and producer at TV stations in Austin, Amarillo and Toledo, OH. Laura is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, a triathlete and enjoys travel, film and a good beer. She enjoys spending time with her husband and pets.
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