Paul Begala Gala on October 20 in Missouri City

The Fort Bend Democrats and The Fort Bend Democratic Party are having one . . . a party, that is. Well, in this case, given the guest speaker is Paul Begala, they're having a gala.

Where: Quail Valley Country Club - 2880 La Quinta Drive, Missouri City, Texas
When: Friday, October 20th, 6:30-9:30 PM

You can't miss this one. Paul Begala and James Carville were young upstarts who got a relatively unknown Arkansas governor, Bill Clinton, elected President in 1992. Begala then went on to serve as a consultant to the president. His more recent feats include being a host on CNN's current events/political debate television show Crossfire Before that, believe it or not, he co-hosted on Equal Time with Ollie North.

But long before that, Paul Begala grew up in Stafford, Texas, and attended Dulles High School. So Begala will be back home next week helping to raise money for our Democratic candidates.

There'll be no tickets sold at the door, so you need to get up off your heinies and get advance tickets to the Begala Gala.

Here is the ticket menu:

$1000. Host. Gets you 10 tickets, recognition, and an autographed copy of his latest book: "Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future"

$500. Sponsor. Gets you 5 tickets, recognition, and a copy of his book (just get someone else to take it to him and ask for his autograph).

$250. Contributor. Gets you 3 tickets, recognition, a book (see above for autograph)

$60. Regular guy (like me). Gets you 1 ticket, no recognition, no book (but they're on sale at Border's - go pick one up and bring it along, he won't mind - heck you bought his book, that should count for something).

To get your ticket(s) do one of these things:

- Go to the Fort Bend Democrats Headquarters at 4800 Ave. H (US 90A), Rosenberg
- Make a reservation by calling JoAnn at 281-341-5489 by Wednesday October 18th

(Make checks payable to the Fort Bend Democrats)

What's for dinner? Upscale. No sandwiches and chips here.