There has been a lot of excitement on campus at the University of Texas at Austin in anticipation of the Democratic presidential debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. UT football coach Mack Brown extended an invitation to both candidates to visit the Longhorn football team and facilities. Only Obama accepted the invitation taking part in the tradition of rubbing lockers for luck in his evening debate with Sen. Clinton.

In Texas, football has an exaggerated sense of importance. So, I think the political photo opportunities of the visit with the Longhorn football may represent yet another shrewd political move by the Obama campaign. Football is taken seriously in the State of Texas as noted by this columnist. Obama 1, Hillary 0.