Questions raised about tonight's straw poll in Harris County

Who's got the short straw? Depends
 on who's picking out the straws.

Coming up tonight: a "Take Back Harris County" rally in Houston, featuring many of the Republican candidates for statewide office as "special guests" and a straw poll.

I always find straw polls to be very interesting political games. I've said many times before that if you give me at least a week's notice and an adequate budget, that I can buy almost any straw poll in the country.

There are several important tricks to understanding straw polls:

Planned Parenthood resorts to blatant lies to fight #prolife bill; UPDATED with information about violent tactics from #prochoice protesters

The special session debate over Texas' abortion bill (HB2/SB1) continues to attract national attention, with both pro-life and pro-choice organizations weighing in. As expected, Planned Parenthood has been one of the ringleaders on the pro-abortion side.

Facebook ads supporting State Senator Wendy Davis and the pro-choice cause have been a constant presence in my Facebook feed since the evening of Davis' filibuster, and Planned Parenthood has been a sponsor of many of them.