When the Texas Legislature refused to move the Democratic and Republican primaries up to Feb. 5 -- Super Tuesday, when voters in some two dozen states went to the polls -- many Texans assumed their votes on March 4 would be superfluous.

While John McCain may have the Republican nomination all but clinched, there still is an exciting race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. Texas will play a huge role in deciding who becomes the party's standard-bearer. Clinton is counting on Texas and Ohio -- which also votes on March 4 -- to revive her flagging candidacy, while Obama hopes Texas puts him so far ahead that his nomination is assured.

But the race for president isn't the only important one Texas Democrats face.

Early voting begins on Tuesday and continues through Feb. 29, including Saturday and Sunday. A list of times and polling places appears on this page.

Today The Eagle Editorial Board makes its recommendations in contested primary races. We invited all the candidates in those races to meet with the board and many chose to do so. Each candidate made an opening statement telling us about himself and why he is running and then board members asked questions. For candidates who did not meet with the Editorial Board, we used news stories and campaign Web sites in making our decision.

Our recommendations are but one source of information voters should consider when going to the polls. Other sources might include voter guides, candidate forums, news stories, campaign advertising and literature, and the recommendations of friends and co-workers.

Here are The Eagle's recommendations in the contested Democratic Party Primary races:

President

Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama -- Texas voters could play a decisive role in who wins the Democratic nomination for president. While Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Edwards and Bill Richardson all remain on the March 4 ballot, only Sens. Clinton and Obama remain active in the race and, while they share similar issues on most of the issues, they offer a vast difference in style and vision. By their very presence as front-runners for the nomination, they are making history.

Clinton is the first woman with a legitimate chance to be a major-party nominee and Obama could be the first African-American standard-bearer of a major party. Voters should look past that to decide who they think could be the best leader for a country that has grown increasingly bitter and divided over the past two decades. Both candidates are bright, educated and have similar experience in national elective office.

Since she first came on the national scene five presidential elections ago as the wife of a little-known former governor of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton has managed to become one of the most divisive figures in American politics. Her promise that voters would get "two-for-one" if Bill Clinton was elected president has come back to haunt her with voters fatigued of the bluster and braggadocio of the now former President Clinton. It is clear that many of us fear that, despite her promises to the contrary, should Hillary Clinton be elected, her husband would be involved inordinately with every decision facing her.

Like her husband, Sen. Clinton lacks a deft touch when dealing with important issues and with people who don't kowtow to her every whim. While her effort to reform America's ailing health-care system was laudable, her heavy-handedness and refusal to compromise and even to include some of the key players doomed the project to failure and, perhaps, set back needed reform for years.

And, like her husband, Sen. Clinton is quick to speak without always thinking. While apologies may help, they are too often necessary when a Clinton is speaking.

The debate between the two candidates over who supported the war in Iraq when is specious. Like many Americans in the days after Sept. 11, 2001, Sen. Clinton bought into President Bush's argument that Saddam Hussein was a threat to this country and had to be removed. Sen. Obama points out that he opposed the war from the beginning. The real issue is how we extricate this nation from the quagmire that threatens to continue for years. Sen. Clinton has called for a swift withdrawal of American troops, but has said she cannot commit to a specific timetable. In January 2007, Sen. Obama introduced legislation for troop withdrawal to be completed by March 31 of this year. He since has said the troops should be gone from Iraq by the end of 2008, three weeks before the next president is sworn in.

Sen. Clinton, as her husband before her, has shown an unwillingness to work with Republicans, particularly the more conservatives she labels a "vast right-wing conspiracy." While she has proved to be a competent senator and has won over many former opponents in New York, she lacks the ability to reunite this country at a time it desperately needs reunion. Republicans are already salivating at the chance to tear her down, either in the November election or during the coming four years if she were elected.

Sen. Obama has captured the imagination of many Americans, particularly young people who have eschewed political involvement as unimportant and, worse, unproductive. There is no question that he is a charismatic and inspirational speaker. His call for real change in the way this country does business harkens back to the days of John Kennedy, although that president had not effected much change by the time he was murdered in Dallas. Sen. Obama speaks a message of hope for an America that can be, should be, better. It is a powerful message, one that will take more than personal charisma to make happen. Without his kind of leadership, though, it is unlikely it will ever happen.

There are those who downplay Sen. Obama's experience for the job. They shouldn't. He served in the Illinois Legislature from 1997 to 2004, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Hillary Clinton had not held elective office before being elected to the Senate in 2000. Sen. Clinton, of course, did gain experience as first lady for eight years, but none of that was as the elected president charged with making the terribly difficult decisions a president has to make. Obama is no fool. Should he be elected in November, we are confident he will be ready to be president when he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.

One of a president's greatest tools is the bully pulpit, the ability to articulate a clear vision, an ability to cajole others into following that vision. Another great tool is the ability to compromise when it is necessary to get things done. Barack Obama would be much better able to use those tools than Hillary Clinton. For going on 20 years, this country has been run by either a Bush or a Clinton. Some have been better than others, but it is time to move on.

Hillary Clinton is a candidate of the past. Barack Obama is a candidate of the future. This is not the time to look back.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Barack Obama for president in the Democratic Primary.

United States Senate

Gene Kelly vs. Ray McMurrey vs. Richard J. "Rick" Noriega vs. Rhett R. Smith -- Although there are four names on the ballot, only two are serious candidates. Kelly is the perennial candidate who has sought virtually every office up and down the ballot for years. He is not the late singer-actor star of Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris and voters should not be confused by his name. Smith is a security guard who ran for the U.S. House in 2004 and governor two years ago. This year he filed for the Senate race as a Democrat, but said he also intended to seek simultaneously the Republican nomination for president. He is not on the Republican ballot. Only McMurrey met with the Editorial Board.

A legislator from the Houston area, Noriega was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1998, although his tenure was briefly interrupted by his continuing Army service in Afghanistan in 2005-2006. A lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, Noriega says he will fight for every benefit veterans deserve.

After he returned to Texas, he led the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Noriega said he wants to ensure our government agencies have the tools need to secure the border with Mexico, although he opposes construction of the border fence. Certainly the best-funded of the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, Noriega has run an arrogant, presumptive-nominee campaign. He at first refused to debate McMurrey, although he finally agreed to a debate last Wednesday.

McMurrey grew up in College Station, the son of parents who cut their political teeth in the turbulent days of the 1960s. Their idealism was imprinted on their son, who continues to believe that this country should be better than it is. After graduation from St. Edwards University, McMurrey taught school in Eagle Pass, choosing to live in a colonia, where he met his wife, the daughter of migrant farm workers. For the past decade, he has taught high school in Corpus Christi, including the past two years as head of a early college social studies program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Although he has not held elective office, McMurrey has been active in politics for years. He said he decided to run because he sees a disconnect between what he teaches and what he sees in politics. "We're a government based on the consent of the money," he said, noting he is accepting no funding from lobbyists or political action committees. He calls for public financing of elections to remove the stench of big money. He calls the war in Iraq "illegal and immoral," saying he wants to remove 15,000 troops a month, but only if it can be done safely. McMurrey said the current financial crisis is a direct result of the deregulation and decentralization during the Reagan years. "We need a vision of FDR, not Herbert Hoover," he said. He favors a single-payer -- the government -- system to provide health care, saying that would allow doctors to continue to compete privately and be compensated amply.

While Noriega does have legislative experience, McMurrey conveys a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington charm and zeal. He certainly is well-versed in the issues.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Ray McMurrey for U.S. Senate in the Democratic Primary.

Railroad Commission

Art Hall vs. Dale Henry vs. Mark Thompson -- Like many Texans, some of the candidates in this race have a basic misunderstanding about the functions of the Railroad Commission, which, despite its name, does not regulate railroads in Texas. Instead, the three-member commission regulates the oil and gas industry and is in charging of ensuring that the pipelines that carry petroleum products are safe -- a job it has not done particularly well in recent years. It also has some environmental responsibility for the oil wells it authorizes. And, despite what Thompson, an advocate for the blind, says, it does have a say in the natural gas rates charged Texans since it must approve cost-of-service rate increases sought by the natural gas industry. In fact, commissioners recently approved rate increases greater than what their staff recommended.

Thompson did not meet with the Editorial Board and, in fact, has made few appearances across the state. Hall, 37, is a former two-term member of the San Antonio City Council who teaches law in that city. When he first announced for this office, he said he did so, in part, to regulate railroad safety. He dropped that pledge when he learned the commission has had nothing to do with railroads since 2005. Unlike some commission members, he has no ties to the oil and gas industry so perhaps he could represent the average Texan more faithfully. He is a bright, articulate, passionate man who, unfortunately is running for the wrong office. He would better serve in the Legislature and, perhaps, some day in Congress.

Henry, 75, has run for the Railroad Commission twice before, once as a Republican and then as a Democrat. He is the only candidate in the race -- and would be the only one on the commission -- with a lifetime of experience working in the oil fields. He knows how to drill an oil well properly, and when the time comes, how to plug in correctly so that it doesn't endanger the environment in the years to come.

Both Hall and Henry correctly say the commission must do more to protect ground water from oil wells drilled through it. While Hall can address the issue in theory, Henry has done it in practice. Henry isn't the most polished candidate in the race, but commissioners don't need designer suits and expensive shoes to do their job well.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Dale Henry for Railroad Commission in the Democratic Primary.

Supreme Court of Texas

Two races for the Supreme Court of Texas -- the state's highest court for civil and juvenile matters -- have each drawn two Democrats, none of whom met with the Editorial Board. Baltasar D. Cruz faces Sam Houston in the Democratic Primary race for Place 7 on the court, while Susan Criss is challenging Linda Reyna Yanez for Place 8. The Eagle takes no position on either race.

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