Found a great website with instructions on how to automate data extracts in Tableau. Actually, the site is pretty cool in general:
Building Tableau Data Extracts with Python in Tableau 8
Build Tableau Data Extracts out of CSV Files
First step is to download and install the data extract modules:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/data-extract-api
Looking for instructions on how to install, also found instructions on using Tableau command line facility. This looks like it would be pretty useful as well:
http://onlinehelp.tableausoftware.com/current/pro/online/en-us/help.html#extracting_TDE.html